Story of Us
by The Dark Knight's Princess
Summary: This is the story of how they make it through life, hating each other, loving each other, falling in and out of love, and everything else that's in between. This is the story of their journey from childhood to adulthood. From adolescence to maturity. The ups and downs of life and all of the trials and tribulations of love. This is their story. A/U Fic. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm only starting this NOW because it's going to be so much longer than any of my other stories, simply because of all of it's content. I'm serious, it's going to be a long one, but I'm sure you guys aren't going to be complaining any. In fact, I think this is by far going to be the longest story I have ever written. Ever. **

**Anyhow, I did a few things different in this story, simply cuz I like trying out new stuff and all. I hope you guys enjoy it and all of it's…differences? Lol. I'm going to try to incorporate as many characters as possible, original and unoriginal alike. So I hope you look forward to that. **

**Don't worry, I'm not giving up on HSG, I'm just putting together where I want that one to go and it'll be updated within the next one to two days, depending. Anyhow, here's my little idea. Hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any unoriginal character in this story. All the original ones are mine though! **

Sixteen year old Alexandra Cabot groans and pulls her comforter further over her head as her alarm continuous to blare irritably. She reaches an arm out of her cocoon of blankets and slams her fist down on to the 'snooze' button for probably the fourth time that morning. Just as she's sure she's about to fall back asleep, another loud blurring interrupts her slumber and she grunts as the noise continuous.

She fumbles blindly for her cell phone which is lying on the nightstand along with her wretched clock. "Lo?" she mumbles groggily into the phone with out even bothering to look at the caller ID to see who it is interrupting her sleep.

"Whoa, you sound…terrible. Is it safe to assume that you aren't ready yet?" Serena Southerlyn snickers from her line of the phone.

"…no…where are you?" Alex responds as she continues to lie under her covers.

"I'm outside your house…" Serena replies blankly.

Alex shoots up in her bed and this time actually bothers to look at the time that is written on the clock. "Oh my god!" she exclaims as she practically flies out of bed, nearly dropping her phone in her process. She ignores her best friends' laughter coming through the speaker and proceeds to ramble into the phone. "Oh my god, Serena, I'm so sorry, give me twenty minutes at least." She states, before hanging up.

After taking the fastest shower in the history of showers, Alex flies around her room trying to get everything together for the day. Now she's probably going to be late for school, all because she didn't feel like waking up when it was time to wake up. Curse her laziness and procrastination syndrome. She throws on her uniform and throws her hair into a mess ponytail; she can always brush her hair at school right? She throws all of her work into her school bag before she grabs her phone and sprints out of her room.

"Someone over sleep?" Veronica Cabot inquires with an amused smile on her face as she watches her daughter practically jump down the stairs.

"Not now. Bye Mom. Love you." she exclaims, giving her mother a kiss on the cheek before she gazes down at her thirteen year old sister, Rachel. "You, not so much. Bye."

Alex sprints down the steps of her house and across the lawn over to where Serena's car is parked in her driveway. She throws her stuff in the back seat and quickly jumps into the front. "Guys, I'm so sorry I'm late…I over slept."

"Over slept meaning you hit the snooze button at least six times." Kim Greylek states, earning a snicker from Serena.

Alex rolls her eyes at her best friends and moves to put on her seatbelt when Serena stops her. "You have your pompoms?"

"They're in my locker. At least they better be because I am NOT going back in that house to look for them. Coach can just scream at me if I forgot them again. I'm in the kind of mood where I'll just take it."

Serena shrugs her shoulders and quickly pulls out of Alex's driveway, heading towards Underwood High. She taps her fingers against the steering wheel awkwardly at the silence in the car. "So…is this going to be one of those rides? Those rides where Kim sits in the back and does her make up and Alex just stares blankly out the window? Come on guys, it's homecoming tonight! Aren't the two of you excited in the slightest? We have that huge pep rally today and then the dance!"

Both of the other girls in the car groan considerably at Serena's overexcitement about school spirit and school functions and just school in general. It will always be beyond them on why their bubbly friend is always so excited about literally…EVERYTHING.

"You are always way too excited, Rena." Kim murmurs as she continues to blot her lipstick in her handheld mirror. She moves to apply more, but freezes when she feels the car swerve intentionally. "You SO did that on purpose. Why are you even going to the dance if you don't even have a date Serena…"

"Hey, I have a date! I told you that Olivia asked me last weekend and I gladly told her I would go." The blonde replies, taking her eyes off the road briefly to glare at her friend in her rearview mirror. It isn't until then that she notices her other best friend's quietness for the past few minutes. "Ali, are you alright? You _are _going to the dance right?"

Alex shrugs a shoulder and continues to rest her head against the window. "I dunno," she replies indifferently as if she's trying to make it seem like it's not really bothering her in the slightest.

Her answer sparks confusion amongst her two friends. The two other girls make eye contact with each other briefly in the mirror before Kim leans forward and sticks her head up into the front seat. "What do you mean 'you dunno'. You have a girlfriend. Why wouldn't you know already?"

"Yeah, haven't you and Abbie talked about whether or not the two of you actually plan to go?" Serena chimes in.

"Again, I don't know. " Alex replies, a little more firmly. "We haven't really talked about it, which means that she hasn't exactly asked me. I don't know if I'm supposed to bring it up with her or if I'm supposed to assume that we're automatically going together or if she's actually planning something. She's been super busy with basketball lately, I don't really think that she's thought about it. It's not a big deal."

Serena gasps and her mouth hangs open for a good ten seconds before she is able to compose her self. "Alex, it's HOMECOMING, how can it not be a BIG DEAL!? You should say something. Or better yet, you should ask someone else to go with you. Ask Kim, I'm sure she'll go."

"I'll pass." Kim responds blandly as her attention is already turned back to her makeup. "I enjoy being the one person there without a date."

"Really, it's not a big deal Serena. If Abbie wants to ask me, she can and if she doesn't want to go, then that's fine too." Alex replies, though the sadness can be portrayed in her voice. "My two best friends will be there anyway, so that's what matters right?"

"Seems, like she pays a lot more attention to basketball than she does to you." Kim murmurs quietly in the backseat.

"And you seem unhappy." Serena adds in, matching the brunette's bland and quiet tone. "For the most part, at least."

Alex squeezes her eyes shut for a brief moment before she shoots a glare at both of her friends. "I am perfectly happy alright? I'm as busy with cheer just as much as Abbie is busy with basketball, so it's not like she's blatantly not making time for me like you guys are making it out to be. So just lay off alright?"

"Geez, fine…sorry…" both girls murmur in unison as Serena turns her attention back to the road. She briefly glances at her best friend out of the corner of her eye once more and internally shakes her head, hoping that Alex is actually alright like she claims to be.

The rest of the drive to school is silent between the three girls for no one really has much of anything to say after that point. When Serena pulls into the student parking lot of the school, Alex spots her girlfriend sitting on the hood of her car, talking with a bunch of girls in letterman jackets; the rest of the basketball team.

"Out of all the parking spots in this lot, you had to choose this one." Alex mutters quietly, quiet enough for Serena not to hear her as she gets out of the car and reaches in the back for her stuff. Finally, she straightens up and puts on her best smile for her girlfriend. "Hey…"

"Hey you." Abbie responds as she slides off of her car and wraps her arms around the blonde waiting for her. "I missed you yesterday. I thought we were gonna hang out after school."

Alex shrugs indifferently as she leans into the brunette's embrace. "I had a lot of homework last night and I overslept this morning anyway, so it was probably best I stayed in."

"You could've stayed over, you know. My parents weren't home last night." Abbie purrs suggestively as she leans in closer. "We could've had some alone time."

"Unfortunately, mine were and they wouldn't have agreed to having me stay over at my girlfriend's house on a school night. Especially if her parents weren't home." Alex replies with a shake of her head.

"You could've said you were staying at Serena's to study or work on a project or something…"

"My parents trust me Abbie, and I'd rather not violate that trust that I have with them. Maybe we can hang out later? After the dance? Or we don't have to go to the dance if you don't want to. We can always just do something else…"

Abbie raises her eyebrows and tilts her head to the side in question. "The dance? I didn't even know you had planned on going to the dance…"

_'Because you never asked. I even bought a dress and everything…' _"I mean, I did, but…we don't have to go." Alex responds quietly as she casts her gaze down to the ground.

"No, ah, we can go…it's just a little last minute that's all. But we'll go, since you really want to go." The athlete replies rubbing at the back of her neck. "We'll talk more about it later, alright?"

"Alright," Alex says with a small head nod before she wraps her arms around her self. "Can I have your jacket?"

Abbie tilts her head again and frowns slightly. "You didn't bring your own jacket?"

"No, I did. But I just like wearing yours." The blonde cheerleader responds with a small blush at her cheeks.

Abbie smiles as she shrugs off her letterman and wraps it around her girlfriend. "Better?"

"Much." Alex answers as she steals a quick kiss. "I gotta go. I'll see you in class okay?"

"Alright. You don't want me to walk you to class?"

"No, it's fine. I've got a lot of running around to do before first period anyway."

Abbie hums and nods her head before she kisses her girlfriend another time. "Okay then. I'll see you later."

Alex smiles and gives the snickering basketball team a wave before she turns and heads off towards the school with her best friends. She adjusts her bag on her shoulder and shoves her hands into the pockets of Abbie's letterman.

"Because you look so happy right now." Kim says sarcastically, not missing a beat on Alex's sudden change in mood in the past five minutes.

"I'm fine. It's nothing to worry about really. Things are just weird right now." Alex responds with a shrug. "I'm surprised you were even able to notice my mood what with Serena making drooling goo-goo eyes at Olivia ever since we pulled into the parking lot."

Serena blushes furiously and opens her mouth to respond but snaps it shut when she realizes that she has nothing to say on the subject. "What all do you have to do before class anyway? You don't seem to be in that much of a hurry."

"I'm not…I just didn't want Abbie to walk me to class this morning." Alex responds as she makes a brief stop at her locker. She shoves her pompoms to the side to make room before stuffing a couple of textbooks inside. "We would probably end up making out until the tardy bell then I'd get in trouble for being late again."

"Still think she could've asked you to homecoming." Serena murmurs with a disapproving shake of her head, flinching when Kim elbows her in the ribs.

Alex shrugs before she closes her locker and turns around. "Like I said, we're already dating, so it really doesn't matter. I better get to class. I'll see you guys at the pep rally." She says before walking off towards her first period class leaving her two best friends silently staring after her.

She makes her way to her English class and takes a seat in her usual desk next to Olivia Benson. Olivia is probably one of the handful of Abbie's friends that Alex can actually stand to be around. There's something about the outgoing brunette that differs her from the rest of the basketball team and Alex has no problem with that at all. She also thinks it's super sweet that Olivia was the one who asked her best friend to the homecoming dance; unlike a certain someone else that Alex knows.

"Rough morning?" Olivia inquires amusedly with an arch of one of her eyebrows.

Alex chuckles quietly and nods her head as she runs a hand through her hair. "Yeah, I refused to listen to my alarm this morning. I was up really late doing that stupid calculus crap that still doesn't make any sense to me. But I got it done. How was practice last night?"

Liv winces at the question but settles on shrugging her shoulders. "It was rough. We did a lot of cardio which is always an ass kicking. Then Abbie outplayed all of us in the scrimmage as usual. I think we're going to have a really good team this year. How's cheer going?"

"Great…" Alex groans sarcastically, sinking down into her chair. "I'm so tired of our captain already. Just because she's a senior, she thinks that everyone else on the squad is her slave, the rest of the seniors included. Plus she's a complete airhead. I want to push her off a bridge."

"Ooo, getting kind of violent there aren't we?"

"You have no idea…"

The bell sounds signaling the beginning of first period. The teacher Miss Pritchett, a middle aged woman who has been teaching for far too long, stands up and begins writing on the board. "Today class, we will begin talking about symbolisms, idioms, and other types of literally devices. We will be learning how to identify these device and by doing that, we will be using an excerpt from Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'." She pauses as she begins to pass out the hand out and the excerpt to the class. "Each of you will pick a partner and-"The door to the classroom flies open and in walks a lean redhead who just so happens to be the bane of Alex's existence.

Miss Pritchett sighs heavily as she realized this would happen because she practically goes through it every day. "Miss Novak, you're late…again."

Casey Novak clicks her tongue and plops down in her seat, putting her head on her desk as she does so. "Thanks for stating the obvious, but I already kinda knew I was late."

"And dare I ask if you have a note this time?"

"You'd be wasting your own breath if you do."

The teacher sighs heavily and pinches the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Well I would highly appreciate it if you would not be such a disruption when you enter my class almost ten minutes late." She concludes, but abruptly continues on. "And please take your feet off of the furniture. You are not at home."

Casey rolls her eyes but reluctantly complies to the teacher's request. She then turns her head towards the blonde sitting next to her and a smug grin slowly spreads across her lips. "You know, you always look pretty damn hot in that skirt."

An uncomfortable shudder runs down Alex's spine as she forces her self not to look at the green eyes that are not so shyly roaming over her body. "You say that about every outfit I wear Novak." She responds, not bothering to give the redhead the satisfaction of looking at her.

"Well then maybe it's because you always look so damn hot in anything then huh?" Casey replies, her smirk only widening by the second. "I bet you look even hotter in nothing at all. You strike me as a thong kinda girl though. I like that."

"Yeah? I like it when you keep your mouth shut. Wish I could say the same for all the girls you fool around with though. Their mouths are just like their legs for you; always open."

"Would you like to join me sometime then? I promise I'll make it worth your while."

Alex wrinkles her nose and this time turns to glare at her annoyance. "Thanks but no thanks. I have a girlfriend who just so happens to be a billion times more respectful than you are."

Casey raises her eyebrows but that stupid smug grin doesn't disappear from her lips in the slightest. "Is that so huh? Word is that Carmichael's been complaining that you haven't given her the goods yet."

Anger flashes in Alex's eyes and her face flushes a dark red. "She has not!" she exclaims, probably a little louder than necessary seeing as she's supposed to be working on what ever the assignment is.

"Truth hurts don't it Princess?"

"Don't call me that, I'm not your 'Princess' and I have absolutely no reason to believe anything that you say. You're just jealous of Abbie, that's all."

Casey smug expression falls and it's replaced with one of anger. "If you think I'm jealous of that scarecrow, then you've got another thing coming. That stuck up wannabe needs to be taken down a few pegs anyhow."

"Don't talk about her like that."

"It's true."

"Hey Novak, why don't you just shut up and mind your own business?" Olivia speaks up from her seat. She honestly gets tired of hearing Casey run her mouth day in and day out, and today, she's not going to take it.

Casey flips off the brunette before she leans back into her chair and puts her feet on her desk once again. She looks over and gives a highly flustered Alex another smirk before she drifts off into daydreaming; what she typically does in all of her classes anyway.

**Like I said before, it's gonna be different. And I paired Alex and Abbie together right now for a reason. Would any of you guys like to try to guess that reason? Lol, anyhow, hope you enjoyed the start to this. Don't forget to leave all of your lovely feedback! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Update, update, update. Gotta love dem updates. Lol, so I saw a few of you requesting for me not to 'prolong' this. Everyone's definition of prolong is completely different so I'm not sure how to answer that. So just bare with me. I mean, come on, I am writing a super long story here, so I've gotta have some leeway here, right? Anyhow, hope you enjoy! **

Alex frowns deeply as she continues to draw random sharp patterns across her paper in psychology. She doesn't realize that she's practically carving into the desk until Kim actually says something to bring out of the clouds and back to reality. Unfortunately, she doesn't exactly hear the brunette the first time. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said, that if you keep that up you're going to end up carving through to the desk." Kim repeats as she raises Alex's paper up by her finger. "Which is exactly what you're doing. What's got you so upset right now? I've never seen you act like this before. What's going on?"

With a sigh, Alex knows that she can't lie to the girl that she calls her best friend. She slumps in her chair and pushes aside her shredded sheet of paper. "Of course you know Casey Novak, right?"

Kim makes a face but nods her head in confirmation. "Yeah, she's banged more girls than I would care to count, but yeah, I know who she is." she says before pausing briefly in suspicion. "Why, what'd she do now?"

"Other than blatantly express the fact that she wants me to take my clothes off…everything." The blonde exclaims with an agitated eye roll. "We were in English this morning, and she told me that she heard that Abbie has been upset because I haven't had sex with her."

"And you believed her?"

"I didn't…and I don't…but now that I'm thinking about it, it's starting to bother me. I mean, why else would she say that?"

"Because she's an idiot?" Kim responds with a snort. "Look Alex, Novak is a jerk, alright? Nine times out of ten, she is probably just messing with you to get a rise out of you. Plus, it's no secret that she and Abbie don't like each other. She wants you, she hates Abbie, it doesn't surprise me that she would say something like that."

Alex purses her lips but nods nonetheless. "I know. You said nine times out of ten. What about that other one out of ten?"

"With that, you're best bet would be to talk to Abbie yourself. Casey isn't a reliable source on ANYTHING. Plus look at it this way, if you believe what Casey says and then go confront Abbie head on about it and say you're wrong, how do you think that's gonna turn out? Abbie's going to get all defensive and mad because you didn't trust her. Like I said, I think you're best bet would be just to talk to your girlfriend about it before you go assuming the worst." Kim concludes rationally.

"I know...but what if it's true?" Alex groans, resting her head in her hands. "What if she only wanted to go out with me just to get me into bed with her?"

Kim raises an eyebrow suspiciously. "You and Abbie have been dating for over a year; if she wanted that don't you think she would've given up by now? Plus, has she ever tried anything like that with you? As a matter of fact, have you two even done anything relatively close to that?"

Alex flushes and shrinks down in her chair once again. "She hasn't like tried to force anything on me or anything like that. And one time when we were alone in my room things did get a little more touchy than usual but we didn't actually, DO anything, you know?"

"Okay, this is gonna seem really weird to ask, but you're my best friend, so it's my job to ask these kinds of questions. But, do you want to…ya know…with her?"

"I-I don't know. I mean, part of me wants to but then at the same time another part of me wants to wait. I don't know which part to listen to."

"So you've actually thought about it?" Kim gasps in shock with her mouth agape.

Alex flushes a deep shade of red and shrugs awkwardly. "Y-yeah, I have. Sometimes when I think about it, I wonder if she even wants to or if she's just fine with what we're doing. I know we don't have to do anything, but if we both want it, why not?"

"Oh gosh Al, this is big. What would your parents do if they some how found out?"

"I don't know. I guess they wouldn't be exactly happy, but I don't think they'd be fuming mad because I can't exactly get pregnant. But I don't think it'd be that big of a deal I guess this is just something that Abbie and I really need to talk about…"

"Yeah it is!" Kim exclaims. "Okay well look, this is my word of advice, if you and Abbie actually do end up…doing it, please don't let it happen in the backseat of her car, for my sake…no…for Serena's sake. Think of what it would do to Serena."

An amused smile forms across Alex's face and she actually giggles at the mental scenario. "Serena would die if I told her that my first time with Abbie was in the backseat of a car. She would fall out and completely die. But I understand what you're saying. I would never let it happen there. Don't get me wrong, Abbie drives a really nice car, but just the whole concept of doing it in the back seat of any car sounds really sleazy to me." she laughs before groaning. "Ugh, Kim, what am I even supposed to say? Am I supposed to just go, 'hey, so uh, do you want to have sex'?"

"No! Oh my god, that is probably the last thing you should say. That sounds like you're offering right then and there. Just ease into the subject. Like you could start with how Novak was being a jackass and just go from there. Just try not to make it seem like you're trying to start a fight or anything like that. Just, be calm about it. Most of all, don't freak out and don't show it if you do start to freak out."

"Ease into it, stay calm, don't freak out. I can do this." Alex repeats as she takes a much needed deep breath. She just hopes that in the end she just come out with a fucked up result from this conversation. But most of all, she hopes that what Casey said isn't true.

By lunch time, Alex is nervous and she has absolutely no idea why. If she lies to her self she can tell her mind that it's just nerves about the huge upcoming homecoming pep rally that's scheduled during the final period of the day, but if she's completely honest with her self, she knows that it's all about the talk that she's about to have with her girlfriend.

She is about to make her way out into the parking lot when she catches a glimpse of Abbie heading towards her locker. Taking a deep breath, she pauses and calls out to get the brunette's attention. "Hey Abbie, can we talk about something?"

Abbie spins around with a smile on her face that quickly fades when she sees the look that Alex is giving her. "Uh oh, am I in trouble?" she wonders jokingly as she begins following the blonde who is now walking in another direction. Alex leads them into the empty inside gym and stands off to the side with her arms folded tightly. "Hey, what's going on? You look like something's bothering you."

"Something is actually." Alex responds as she nervously bites down on her bottom lip. "There's quite a few things we need to talk about actually…I just don't know where to start with this…"

"The beginning would be great…" Abbie replies as she curiously lifts an eyebrow.

Alex nods and takes one last encouraging deep breath before she begins. "What do you want from me, Abbie?"

"What? What do you mean, 'what do I want from you'? I don't get where we're going with this…"

"I mean what do you want by being in a relationship with me? Is there a specific reason that we're together?"

"We're together because we have feelings for each other. Or at least I'm sure that we do. Do we not? Is there something I'm missing?" Abbie questions before her eyes widen in fear. "Oh my god, are you breaking up with me?"

Alex squeezes her eyes shut and quickly shakes her head. "What? No, no, I'm not breaking up with you. I just…Casey Novak said something this morning and I kind of let it get to me even though I know that I shouldn't have let it…"

At the mention of the rebellious redhead, Abbie's hands clench into tight fists and she grits her teeth in anger. "What the fuck did she say to you? Tell me so I can have reason to kick her ass."

"She…um…she said that you were upset with me because I wouldn't…because we haven't…you know…" Alex trails off as a blush begins to appear at her cheeks.

"Because you wouldn't…oh…OH! Alex, no…no, no, no. Not once have I ever said that. I've never even thought that. Not once would I ever think that. I'm in a relationship with you because I want you for you, NOT because of sex or anything of the like. Casey's probably saying things like that because she's jealous. She's jealous because I have you and because of that, she can't mark you off as another notch in her headboard. Don't let her get to you."

"I know that I shouldn't but I just…I just had to ask. It's not that I don't trust you, because I trust you completely, but I just had to ask." Alex explains before her voice goes quieter. "Do you want to?"

A blank expression briefly crosses Abbie's face as she tilts her head. "What do you mean?"

Alex sighs and awkwardly shifts on her feet as she realizes she's going to have to go in depth. "I mean, have you ever thought about us and that…us doing that…?"

Abbie's blank expression is replaced with a blush and she begins to awkwardly rub at the back of her neck. "Oh. Well, to be honest, I have, but I guess I just figured you weren't ready for that kinda thing or whatever. I didn't want to make it seem like I was pressuring you or anything, but I have thought about it. Do you want to?"

"I don't know…I guess I'm still on the fence about it. Part of me does but part of me thinks that we should wait a little bit."

"Then as along as you're not sure, we won't. The last thing I would want is for you to feel like you've made a mistake."

Alex nods her head and moves forward as she allows her girlfriend to wrap her into a warm, tight embrace. "Okay. You're really sweet, you know that? I can't wait for the dance tonight."

"And I can't wait for that pep rally." Abbie responds. "There's always a certain blonde cheerleader that I just can't keep my eyes off of…every time."

"Then I guess I'll have to tell Serena to not look so breath taking." Alex answers jokingly before she gives the brunette a quick peck on the lips. "C'mon, let's go get some lunch."

**Meanwhile… **

"Casey, you aren't even trying anymore." Amanda Rollins says exasperatedly as she shakes her head for probably the thousandth time that very same afternoon. "How am I supposed to help you if you don't even try?"

Casey folds her arms and leans back in her chair before she puts her feet on the table that she and the younger blonde are occupying in the library. "I already told you that I don't need your help especially since you're a sophomore. Why is a stupid sophomore helping me anyway?"

"Because Mrs. Reynolds felt that it would be best if I tutor you so you can actually pass this semester." Amanda replies with another eye roll. "This sophomore just happens to be making the highest grade in your trigonometry class, so I'm pretty sure she's set me up to tutor you for a reason. Just because you're a junior does not mean that I'm going to sit here and let you push me around. I can easily leave you know, but I choose not to because I actually want to help. Imagine that…"

Casey huffs loudly and tightens her arms across her chest. She has absolutely no interested in the match that's being presented before her and she wishes that she could just shove it down the younger girl's throat when she's not paying attention. But that would probably get her suspended and god knows that the last thing she needs is another suspension.

Amanda purses her lips tightly and knocks Casey's feet off of the table. "You really need to stop putting your feet on things. It sends a bad message about your attitude. Although, I'm sure more than half the school knows about your ah, status." She trails off with a mumble. "Anyway, back to math. Will, you please pick up your pencil so we can start again?"

After remaining silent for a moment, the redhead sits up in her chair and picks up her pencil. She hunches over the table and stares at the paper as she expectantly waits for Amanda continue on with whatever it is that they were doing.

"Okay, so let's start with the triangle." Amanda begins drawing a perfect right triangle. "So the longest side of the triangle is called?"

"…the hippo….hypotenuse?" Casey responds questionably, not quite sure of her answer.

"Great, yeah! Okay, so the hypotenuse is the longest side of the triangle. Okay now we'll move on into the trigonometry. There are three main things you need to know in trig and that's sin, cosin, and tangent. A little trick that I learned to help me remember the three was something called SohCahToa. With sin, you have the capital S for sign the o for the Opposite side length to X and H for the hypotenuse. So to find sin, what would you need to do?"

Casey stares at her paper intently, as her grip on her pencil tightens. The words and the number on the page are making no sense to her and it only succeeds in frustrating her to a further extent. "I don't know…" she murmurs quietly.

Amanda sighs quietly and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Casey, we just went over this. We also went over it earlier in class today too…" she mumbles with a shake of her head.

"I don't get this okay?!" Casey exclaims irritably as she throws down her pencil. "None of this makes any sense."

"Because you aren't trying…"

"I am trying! I just…I don't understand, okay?!" Casey exclaims before she sits back in her chair and crosses her arms once more. "I'm just stupid…"

Amanda's gaze softens as well as her tone before she shakes her head. "You aren't stupid…" she says quietly. "Some things that are easy for some people to understand are a lot harder for others. But that doesn't mean that you stop trying when you don't get it. That just means that you have to try harder."

"It's because I'm stupid…" the redhead mumbles again. "That's why I don't ever get anything. Forget this shit. I'm outta here…" she states as she stands up from her chair and leaves the library, leaving behind her stupid homework assignment that she probably wasn't going to do in the first place. She never does her homework to begin with, so why would she start doing it now?

**I'm really beginning to love this story and it's only chapter to. Leave your thoughts?**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, guys, I'm going to be honest here. I know all of you want me to update HSG and I'm going to, honest. But listen, as a writer and I'm sure I'm not the only writer who feels this way, I would much rather have you guys wait until I can put together an amazing chapter to post than to throw together some crap that isn't even going with the story. Me updating on this story isn't because I've given up on HSG or anything else, but it's because I can't do anything with it right now and I need something to occupy myself while I try to get over writer's block. Plus I figured that while you wait, you guys would like something to read at least. I'm trying, please understand that. **

**Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy this chapter despite many of your concerns. **

Casey is absentmindedly wandering through the hall when she is forcefully shoved through the passing flow of students and pinned hard against the lockers. The notion actually takes her off guard and the pain that briefly shoots through her shoulder is a bit unnerving for point five seconds. Frankly, she knew that this was coming, but she didn't know when.

"The fuck is your problem, Novak?" Abbie spits bitterly as she shoves the redhead against the wall again.

Casey rolls her eyes and this time pushes back, only backing the brunette athlete up about a foot or so. "We'd be here all day if I listed all the problems I have with you, scarecrow."

Abbie's eyes harden in anger as she shoves Casey against the lockers again. "You need to stay the fuck a way from my girlfriend, you understand me? I don't want to hear another story about you running your mouth or about you harassing her, got it?"

"You need to step off and watch your self Carmichael. You have no idea who you're messing with." Casey responds in a deathly tone as she shoves Abbie away from her again.

The two continue to stare each other down, neither of them realizing that they've drawn quite the crowd in the hall way. They continue to stand their grown before a cocky smirk spreads across Casey's lips and she speaks up first. "You're just mad because I made you perfect little princess realize the truth, huh? Everyone here knows your game. Everyone here knows that the only reason that you're with Alex is 'cause you want to get in her pants."

"Shut up. That's not true and you know it."

"Is it? I mean come on, look at you. Straight A. Jock. Star of the basketball team. Arrogant beyond belief. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you're probably fucking some other girl at another school. Hell, you're probably banging one of the girls here. I bet it's that cute little blonde your girl is always hanging around. Alex know that you've probably been fucking her best friend let alone someone else?"

There is a unison 'ooo' from the crowd circling them as Abbie clenches her fists so tight that she leaves little red crescent moons in her palms from her fingernails. "You need to shut your mouth. I would never cheat on her. You're just jealous just like you always have been. If you've got a problem then you come take it up with me personally, but I will NOT stand for you continuing to harass my girlfriend. You need to back the fuck off."

"Okay, you know what, fuck you."

"No thanks. With all the whoring around you do, there's no telling what transmitted diseases you've been able to pick up."

Rage flashes in Casey's eyes and she clenches her fist tightly. She swings a hard right hook but unfortunately is bested by the other girl's agility and she quickly finds her self pinned to the lockers once again.

The chanting of the plethora of students in the background is a dull roar in Abbie's ears as she tightens her grip on the front of Casey's shirt. She shoves the redhead harder into the lockers and winds her fist back to land a hard punch right in Casey's face. Just as she is about to deliver the punch, she feels someone tightly clutch her arm and lower her fist.

"Abbie, stop…" Alex exclaims with wide eyes as she gets between the two feuding rivals. She rests her hands on her girlfriend's shoulders and tries to push her back a few steps. "Calm down…she's not worth it."

Abbie's gaze briefly softens, but hardens again when she sees Casey sneering at her from over Alex's shoulder. She grits her teeth and clenches her fists tighter than before.

"That's right. Hide behind her just like you always do." Casey sneers at the brunette as she continues to poke the hornet's nest. "You're too stupid to come up with things on your own right?"

Alex internally rolls her eyes as she literally has tog grip her shoes into the tile to keep Abbie from charging onto the arrogant redhead again. "Abbie, come on…it's not worth it. Please…it's not."

Abbie stares at a sneering Casey for another moment longer before she spins on her heel and quickly storms through the circular crowd of students. Alex closes her eyes and lets out an agitated deep breath before she turns around towards the bane of her existence. "You're a real jerk you know that? Why do you always insist on making everything worse?"

"Not my fault the truth hurts sometimes." Casey replies with a very nonchalant shrug. She is completely taken off guard by the sudden stinging slap across the side of her face and she's pretty sure that the angry blonde has left a mark.

Alex rolls her eyes before she storms away in pursuit of her angry girlfriend leaving a very smug looking Casey in her wake, despite being slapped only a few seconds earlier.

Casey chuckles to her self and places her hand on the warm side of her face. She knows that if she looks in the mirror she's probably going to find Alex's hand print there, but she doesn't care. It was worth it anyway.

It takes some energy but Alex is finally able to catch up to her girlfriend's fast pace. "Abbie, will you stop and just listen to me?" she exclaims as she grabs the brunette's arm and spins her around. She purses her lips into a thin line when she sees how labored and heavy Abbie's breathing is. "What happened back there?"

"What happened was me almost kicking her ass." Abbie responds angrily and probably a little louder than necessary.

"And what would that have done, huh? It would have gotten you in trouble. It would have gotten you suspended; expelled even and then everything you've worked for would've been down the drain. You wouldn't be able to play all year and what then? I'm telling you that she's not worth it Abbie. Don't let her words get to you."

"You didn't hear what she was saying! And I'm tired of her messing with you."

"She messes with me because she has a crush on me Abbie." Alex says with a sigh and a shake of her head. "I don't let it bother me and you shouldn't let it bother you. I know you want to protect me, but you have to realize that I am more than capable of taking care of myself. You can't let your anger get the best of you like that…"

Abbie sighs heavily as she drags a hand through her hair. "I know, okay? But I just want you to be okay. I don't want anything to happen to you. When other people look at you like she does, I-I get upset, because I don't want anyone else touching you but me."

"And I don't want to be touched by anyone but you." Alex replies quietly as she wraps her arms around Abbie's waist. "Are you calm now?"

"Yeah, I'm calm. Sorry for freaking out like that back there. It won't happen again?"

"Promise?"

"I promise."

* * *

Casey shoves her hands deep into her pockets as she makes her way up the steps of her hours. She inserts her key into the door and pushes the door open, wrinkling her nose at the sudden odor that immediately attacks her. One would think that she would be used to it by now.

"Mom, are you in here?" she calls out as she closes the door and dumps her backpack in the hall. She briefly stops to look in the kitchen for her mother before she continues on into the living room.

The floor is littered with various empty bottles that used to contain alcohol, there's broken glass occasionally around the room, and Casey winces when she spots her mother lying behind the couch passed out in what looks like a pool of her own vomit.

With a sigh, the teen shoves some of the bottles to the side with her foot as she crouches down beside her mother. She wrinkles her nose once again at the horrendous smell of vomit and alcohol that's radiating about the room.

"Mom, wake up." she says quietly as she gives her mother a small shake, drawing a drowsy groan from the woman.

"Casey?" Christine Novak groans as her eyes flutter open and her gaze lands on her daughter. "What are you doing home so…so early?"

Casey shakes her head again as she helps her mother to her feet. "This is the time that I usually get home…come on, let's get you cleaned up." she says quietly before murmuring. "You shouldn't be drinking during the day Mom…it's not good for you."

Christine stumbles over the various bottles littering the floor of her home and she's sure that she would have fallen had it not been for her daughter who's walking by her side, practically supporting all of her weight. "It's not…bad Casey, it's…it's normal for me. We've been through this. I'm perfectly fine…" she slurs before she ends up slumping against her daughter.

Casey sighs to her self and shakes her head once again as she does her usual routine of cleaning up her drunken mother. It isn't anything that she's not used to doing, but every time she does so, her heart breaks more and more. By the time she's done, her mother has slipped into unconsciousness once again and she practically has to carry the older woman to her bedroom.

After making sure that her mother is well tucked into bed, Casey goes back towards the front hall to retrieve her backpack. She retreats to her room where she locks the door and immediately dumps all of her work onto her bed. She pulls out her math homework and sits crossed legged on her bed.

She stares at the problems on the paper and they all look like a completely different language to her. It's almost as if nothing is legible and no matter how many times she reads the instructions, she just can't seem to make the numbers make sense.

After an entire hour of staring at her homework, she comes to the realization that the most she's even written on her paper is her name. With a heavy sigh, she shoves the papers aside and crosses her arms tightly across her chest. Why can't she just understand like everyone else in her class? She does try, she really does, but they don't know that. They don't know that she really doesn't understand.

"Math is stupid…" she mumbles to her self as she shoves her work back into her back pack. She glances her the clock on her nightstand and wonders about all of the people that are going to be getting ready for the dance in a couple of hours. She thinks back to the time at school where she just narrowly missed another suspension by another fight and she snorts bitterly thinking of how many of those situations she's been in over the past three years.

**Later **

"You look gorgeous dear." Richard Cabot says proudly as he kisses his eldest daughter on her forehead, causing the teen to blush furiously.

"Dad…" Alex whines as she wiggles and squirms out of her father's embrace. "She's not even here yet and you're already embarrassing me."

"We only embarrass you because we love you." Veronica adds in as she kisses her daughter as well. "You do look really beautiful honey. The people at the dance won't be able to keep their eyes off you."

Rachel snorts loudly from her spot on the couch and makes a faux gagging noise. "Please, spare me the mushy gushy lovey dovey stuff." She whines with a shake of her head.

Alex narrows her eyes and opens her mouth to retort to her sister's comment but promptly closes it when she realize that Rachel probably isn't even worth the insult. She smoothes out her dress and takes a shaky deep breath as she suddenly feels nervous for some reason. Why is she nervous? It's not like she's going to homecoming with a stranger, she's going with her girlfriend for crying out loud.

"I'm going to go upstairs to make sure all of you guys' kissing hasn't ruined my make up." Alex says as she makes her way upstairs back to her bedroom. She briefly checks the time and wonders if Abbie should have already been there, or if she's just being paranoid about the whole things.

She is interrupted in checking her make up by the ringing of her cell phone on it's charger. Quickly, she makes her way across her bed room and smiles when she sees that it's her girlfriend that's calling. "Hey you."

"Uh, hey…" Abbie's voice responds lowly from the other end of the line.

"Are you on your way? I just want you to know that when you get here my mom is going to bombard us with her camera and everything; just wanted to prepare you for that."

"Alex, listen, I'm um…something…came up with my family here. I'm really sorry, but I'm not going to be able to take you to the dance…"

Alex's heart drops down to her shoes and her face falls immediately. "You're…you're not coming?" she repeats quietly before she sits on the edge of her bed.

"No…I'm not coming…"

"Wow…o-okay…um, is everything alright?"

"No, yeah…everything is…listen, I'm going to have to talk to you later okay? Again, I'm really sorry. I promise that I'll make it up to you, but I really have to go now…"

"Okay…um…thanks for letting me know…"

"Alright…love you…"

"Love you too…" Alex murmurs sadly in response before she ends the phone call. She lets her phone fall haphazardly onto the floor as tears begin to line her eyes. The more that she tells her self she's not going to cry, the faster the tears begin to spill out down her cheeks.

After sitting a moment by her self, she stands up from her bed and makes her way back down stairs where her parents are looking at her expectantly. She wraps her arms tightly around her self and takes a shuddering deep breath as she tries to keep her emotions in check. "So…um…Abbie just called. S-she's not coming."

Veronica raises her eyebrows and she moves to wrap her daughter in a hug. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry…" she says as she feels the teen's tears against her shirt.

Alex shrugs out of her mother's embrace and wipes her eyes from where her tears are starting to make her mascara run. "I'm just…going to go take all of this off and then maybe go to bed. I'll…see all of you in the morning…"

Veronica opens her mouth to call after her, but closes it when she feels her husbands hand on her shoulder. "Poor thing…" she whispers with a shake of her head.

"It's just barely eight o clock and she's talking about going to bed?" Richard states with a quirked eyebrow. "You think she'll be alright?"

"I sure hope so…"

* * *

It's midnight when Alex is awoken by a sound at her window. She blinks into the darkness and climbs out of bed as she recognizes the silhouette that is lingering on her balcony. With an eye roll, she unlocks her balcony door and slides it open for her late night visitor. "What…"

"Wow, obviously this is not the welcoming committee…" Abbie responds with a raise of her eyebrows. "What's your problem?"

Alex snorts sarcastically and laughs bitterly. "What's my problem? My problem is that you practically ditched me on the night of homecoming. That's my problem Abbie and the fact that you're acting like it's not even that big a deal makes it so much worse."

"I told you that something came up!" Abbie exclaims in a harsh whisper, careful not to wake any of the other slumbering Cabots in the household. "

"I've been looking forward to the homecoming dance for months Abigail. MONTHS. And you didn't even think to ask me if I wanted to go before yesterday! I mentioned it to you and you looked at me like I was speaking some sort of foreign language. With Liv asking Serena to go, you didn't even think to ask me?! Your GIRLFRIEND?!"

Abbie rolls her eyes and runs a hand through her hair. "I didn't even know you wanted to go! You didn't even express any kind of interest in going! If you wanted to go, then why didn't you even mention it to me?!"

"Because somewhere in my mind I thought you were planning something special, but obviously I was wrong about that. Do you realize that over the past couple of months you have been paying very little attention to me? It was worse during the summer when you had that stupid basketball camp and that's all you ever talked about. You know that's all you ever thinking about is fucking basketball?! It's like you're dating basketball and you're more in love with that than you are with me."

"Alex, that's not true and you know that…"

"It is true Abbie! All that's ever on your mind is basketball…what about me? Is that why you couldn't have even bothered to ask your own girlfriend to the homecoming dance? Because you were always thinking about your stupid sport."

Abbie closes her eyes and takes a calming deep breath. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't realize that I was putting more into that than I was our relationship, I promise that I'll do better. Look, about the dance, I'll make it up to you okay? I just couldn't-"

"It doesn't even matter now Abigail. The dance is over and you've missed your chance at that. The least you could've done is shown up to tell me you couldn't take me, instead of taking the cowardly way out and making a phone call. You might as well have sent a text message. I'm sure whatever you were doing was far more important than me."

Abbie stands stock still with widened eyes that are visible even in the darkness. "I couldn't take you to the dance because my grandmother died, Alex."

Alex's eyes widen to the size of car tires and she places her hand over her mouth in shock. "Oh my god, Abbie, I'm so sorry, I had no idea. Why didn't you tell me?"

"That's what I came over here to do…" the brunette responds quietly as she shoves her hands in her pockets. "I'm just gonna go…I'll call you tomorrow, I guess."

"No, Abbie, wait, please. I'm sorry. I-I didn't know." Alex pleads as she follows her girlfriend out onto the balcony. She watches helplessly as Abbie climbs down a nearby tree and makes her way back towards her car. "Abbie wait!"

Alex doesn't realize that she's crying again until she sees her girlfriend start her car and the taillights disappear at the end of the street. She makes her way back into her bedroom and curls up on her bed wishing that she hadn't just put her foot in her mouth.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: You guys keep talking about the whole Abbie/Alex thing, and here's what I'll say. There's a reason that I'm laying out their relationship right now, that's all I'll say, lol. Chapter…enjoy! **

"With a taste of your lips, I'm on a ride, you're toxic I'm slippin' under. With a taste of a poison paradise, I'm addicted to you, don't you know that you're toxic." Serena sings as she slows her typical early Sunday morning sprint in the park to an acceptable jog. She then stops to tie her shoe when she notices a familiar person on one of the basketball courts. Taking out her headphones, she pockets them before she decides that she's going to head over. "You seem to be playing pretty hard against yourself right now. I'm not sure if I should be worried or not."

Abbie stops what she's doing and turns her head, a little surprised to see the blonde standing before her. "Hey," she greets somberly before she takes to dribbling her basketball. "What're you doing here?"

Serena shrugs and shoves her hands into the pockets of her jacket. "I run here every Sunday morning. It's become routine now. I run past here all the time and I was actually surprised to see you, so I thought I would stop and say hey. I hope I'm not interrupting or anything."

"No, not really, I was just…practicing." Abbie responds as she shoots the ball but it bounces off the rim of the goal. "Or I was trying to, anyway…"

"I heard about your grandma…I'm really sorry for your loss." Serena says carefully.

"Thanks." Abbie murmurs quietly. "We were really close, you know? And it was just…so sudden. She wasn't sick and she hadn't complained of being in pain or anything. She just laid down, fell asleep for just a normal nap, and then she wouldn't wake up anymore. She was visiting for the week and everything seemed fine. It was so scary shaking her to wake her up and she just…wasn't responding. I can't really sleep at night because of that. That's why I'm out here so early. I assume Alex told you what happened, since you know?"

Serena nods her head at the question and leans against the pole of the basketball goal. "Yeah, she told me what happened. I was going to call you to send my condolences but I thought you might want some space or time to yourself."

Abbie shrugs and goes back to dribbling. "It would've been fine. Kim already called and I'm assuming you already know how my talk with Alex went, considering…"

"Yeah, she told me about what happened. But you guys talked yesterday right? Have you even seen each other since then?"

"No…not really. I've been kind of…I don't know. I was thinking about going to see her later but, I don't know. I guess it all depends on if she even wants to see me or not. She's still pretty torn up about missing the homecoming dance after I told her I'd take her. I should've been paying more attention to her wants instead of my own, then maybe she wouldn't be so upset right now…"

"I'm sure everything will get better. The two of you make the cutest couple ever, and I would personally die if you guys broke up." Serena states as she puts her hand over her heart.

Abbie chuckles quietly and shakes her head at Serena's tendencies to a be a tad bit over dramatic at some points. "So did you have a good time with Liv on Friday? She was really nervous about picking you up and everything, I personally thought that it was hilarious."

Serena blushes and shuffles her feet a little as she recalls Friday night. "Yeah, we had a great time. She was a nervous wreck when she got to my house to pick me up and it didn't help that my father decided that he was going to briefly interrogate her. She was really sweet though. You should've seen her when she was about to kiss me. She wanted to, that much was obvious, but she looked like she wasn't sure if she should or not; it was really adorable. By far the best dance I've ever been to."

"Glad that you had a good time. Wish I could've been there."

"There were a lot of drunk people though, so you didn't miss much. Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what was going on between you and Casey a couple days ago. I heard about something, but I wasn't exactly in the hall when it happened."

"Nothing much, besides the fact I was about to make her eat my fist." The brunette murmurs with a dark shake of her head. "She's a real asshole most of the time and it's really starting to get the fuck on my nerves. That and she has been harassing my girlfriend."

Serena giggles quietly to her self and nods her head. "Yeah, she has the huge thing for Alex. But I think it's pretty creepy. She's made more girls cry than I would even care to imagine. Remember that one girl who had to change schools because of her? That was terrible."

Abbie snorts bitterly and shakes her head. "You would think they would stay away after hearing about the girls before them. I just can't see what they see in that asshole…I'm getting really sick of her you know? Someone really needs to put her in her place."

"And we all prefer that someone not be you. I know you've had this talk with Alex but I'm going to say it again; don't do anything that's going to get yourself in trouble."

"I'm not, geez…"

Serena rolls her eyes considerably and crosses her arms over her chest. "Abbie, please. Don't even begin to act like you don't have anger problems sometimes. We just tell you this to keep you out of trouble."

"Yeah well, if she continues to mess with me then I will not hesitate to kick her ass."

Monday

Alex stops at her locker briefly in between classes. She begins switching out her textbooks when she feels an unfortunate presence beside her. Great, because this is definitely what she needs right now. "What do you want Casey…"

"How'd you know it was me?" Casey answers as she leans against the locker next to the blonde's.

"I always get this creepy feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever you're around." Alex replies as she closes her locker and turns towards what she calls her stalker. "Now I repeat, what do you want?"

Casey smiles and shrugs her shoulders. "Nothing really. Just thought I'd walk you to class today, is all."

Alex rolls her eyes and shakes her head simultaneously. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm more than capable of getting to class on my own."

"It still wouldn't hurt though."

"Do you ever just go away?"

"Nope."

With an exaggerated sigh, Alex spins on her heel in pursuit of her next class. She knows that despite what pace she takes, there will be no getting rid of the irritating redhead until she gets to class. "You're a real pain in the ass…"

Casey shrugs again and shoves her hands into her pockets. "I get that a lot." She responds before smirking smugly. "How come scarecrow doesn't walk you to class? She feel like she's too good to be seen with you in the hall?"

"Abbie has another class on the other side of the building right now Casey. And as I said before, I'm perfectly fine making it to class on my own. I don't need you or even Abbie, for the matter, to make sure that I get there."

"A simple thank you would suffice, Princess." Casey grumbles, shaking her head. "So, are you in trigonometry?"

Alex wrinkles her nose and shakes her head. "I took trig my freshman year. After this semester of stats, I'll be finished with math. Why?"

Casey hangs her head briefly before she clears her throat. "No reason. I was just wonderin…"

Alex huffs quietly to her self before she turns towards Casey with a slightly patronizing look. "How many of your classes are you failing?" she asks bluntly, being able to read through the redhead like plastic wrap.

A defensive look crosses Casey's face as her mouth falls open. "What kind of question is that?"

"An honest one."

"…all of them."

Alex would be lying to her self if she says that she was even generally surprised by what she has just been told. "I see."

Casey narrows her eyes and cocks her head to the side in curiosity. "Why?"

"No reason. I was just wondering." Alex replies in Casey's same tone of voice from a few minutes prior. "Have you considered tutoring?"

"I don't need tutoring." Casey responds quickly. "Unless you want to tutor me."

Alex wrinkles her nose once again. "No chance in hell." She murmurs with another shake of her head. "But seriously, you should consider finding some help. It's not good to be failing all of your classes right now. Especially since this is the year that colleges actually start to observe you."

Casey purses her lips tightly into a thin little line that they almost disappear. "What if I don't want to go to college?"

"Why wouldn't you want to go to college? Isn't there anything that you wanna be?"

"Not really."

Alex rolls her eyes for probably the hundredth time of being in Casey's presence. "Right, of course…" she mumbles before clearing her throat. "Well look, your efforts have paid off, I have safely made it to my physics class. You can go now."

Casey smirks and blows Alex a kiss. "It was nice talking to you too Princess. We'll have to bond like that more often. Maybe even in more ways than one some time."

Alex shudders uncomfortably as she watches the redhead swagger down the hall way. Of all the people that could possibly have a crush on her, why does it have to be THAT girl?

**Later **

Alex sighs heavily to her self as she makes her way to the gym for cheer practice. When she gets there, she realizes she's several minutes early and she spots Kim talking with Abbie, who is supposed to be headed to basketball practice right now. That's odd.

The blonde hangs back as she watches the two engage in conversation and she can't help but notice that the two are standing at a rather close proximity. There is a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach when sees Abbie's smile widen as she nods her head. Alex has seen that smile before, and it's what she has deemed the brunette's 'flirtatious smile'.

Folding her arms, Alex continues to stand across the gym as she tries to figure out what's going out without actually approaching the pair. She folds her arms tight and clenches her jaw when she sees Kim lean forward and whisper something into Abbie's ear which causes the taller girl to blush furiously and nod her head.

Kim looks at Abbie expectantly and smiles widely when she receives another head nod in what looks like confirmation. She gives the athlete's arm a small squeeze before she pins on her heel and heads off towards the bleachers. It isn't until then that Abbie spots her girlfriend and her blush deepens as they make eye contact. She offers the blonde a small, yet nervous smile before she points her thumb in the direction of the other gym, signing that she's going to go to practice now but not before signaling to Alex that she'll call her later.

Alex clenches and unclenches her fists several times as she tries to calm her raging heart beat. The rest of the squad begins to file in as Alex crosses the gym and violently dumps her stuff on the bleachers.

"Wow, someone's in a good mood." Kim speaks up sarcastically, flinching when Alex shoots a hard glare her direction. "Or not…"

"Geez, if looks could kill." Serena murmurs as she stands next to her very confused best friend. "What'd you do?"

"I honestly have no idea and by the look that she just gave me, I'm terribly afraid to ask." Kim responds as she arches an eyebrow and the two of them then proceed to join the rest of the team for stretching warm ups.

As the team begins practicing a routine, Alex's hands 'slip' while they are performing a particular stunt which in turn cause Serena and another teammate to scramble and lurch forward the keep Kim from plummeting violently to the floor. Unfortunately, the collapse leaves three girls awkwardly piled on each other on the floor while Alex stands at a respectable distance with her arms crossed.

"Alex, if you aren't gonna pay attention, then someone's gonna get hurt." Carly Simpson, their horrid captain that Alex is always complaining about states snidely.

Alex rolls her eyes and tightens her arms across her chest as she sneers back. "Right, I'll pay attention."

As expected, while everyone else remains calm, there is of course one person who is not, and it is the girl who nearly fell probably ten or so feet to the floor beneath her. "Alex, what the literal fuck!?" Kim screeches as she gets to her feet. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Accident." Alex mumbles as she shrugs her shoulders and they reset the routine to run it from the beginning. Accidentally on purpose maybe, but an accident none the less. It's the same thing right? Something's fishy and she'll be damned if she doesn't find out what it is.

**Heheheha anybody know that song that Serena was singing at the beginning of this chapter? It's one of my favorite songs, lol. Anyhow, leave your thoughts? **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Someone said that every chapter Alex is with Abbie and not Casey is killing them, but let me say this...this story is pretty much their life and I have startd where they are Juniors in HIGH SCHOOL. We still have summer of senior year, senior year it self, ALL of college, law school, work, and everything else that I'm going to throw in between all of that for our Casandra feels! Which is why I said this story is going to be MUCH longer than any of my others. **

**Anyway, this is Kind of a filler chapter here, but I liked it for some reason. Hope you guys enjoy!**

At the end of practice, Alex throws her stuff together and heads outside of the gym with the rest of the cheer squad. As a few of the girls head out towards their cars, Alex hangs back when she is stopped by Serena.

"Alex, jeez, what was going on with you today?" the slightly shorter blonde questions with general curiosity in her voice. "I've never seen you that out of it like you were today."

"I wasn't that bad, Ser…" Alex mumbles with an eye roll.

Serena's eyes widen and she nearly drops her stuff from shock. "Alex, you were reckless! It's like safety meant absolutely nothing to you today. We're a team Alex and team means that we do anything and everything we can to make sure no one gets hurt.

With a sigh, Alex wraps her arms tightly around her self and shrugs her shoulders. "I'm sorry. My head will be more in it tomorrow. Can we go now?"

"Yeah, hang on. We just need to wait for Kim. I just need to make sure that she has a ride home first before I just leave." Serena answers as she pulls out her phone, presumably to check the time.

Alex huffs irritably, though it goes unnoticed by her best friend who is now so engrossed with something on her phone that a nuclear bomb could hit the other and the only thing Serena would be concerned about is making sure that her text went through. After about ten minutes, Kim exits the gym with all of her stuff, seemingly engrossed with something on her phone as well. Honestly, what is it about people and their cell phones at the moment? It seems to be the main factor from her getting home!

"What're you guys still doing here?" Kim asks curiously as she pockets her phone and looks up at her best friend, purposely keeping a respectable amount of distance between her and Alex.

"Well we decided to wait for you like good friends and see if you needed a ride home." Serena responds as she pockets her phone as well.

Kim shakes her head and casts a brief glance at Alex who is once again giving her a deathly look. "Oh, thanks guys, but someone else is gonna take me home. Thank you guys for waiting though.

"Who's taking you home?" Alex cuts in, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"A friend," Kim responds semi confidently, this time daring to look blonde in the eyes. "I'll see you guys tomorrow alright?"

"Bye Kim!" Serena waves cheerfully while Alex settles for snorting quietly and mumbling under her breath. Thankfully, this gesture goes unnoticed by Serena. "So are you ready?"

"I've been ready." Alex replies as she sets out into the parking lot towards Serena's car. She dumps her stuff into the backseat and climbs into the front where she folds her arms tightly in a defiant matter. Unfortunately, THIS gesture doesn't go unnoticed by Serena.

"What's wrong with you?" Serena questions sternly as she gets into her car and starts it. "You're so tense right now, you're making me tense. Alex, what's going on?"

Alex clicks her tongue and shakes her head. "Nothing's wrong." She says nonchalantly with a shrug before a thought crosses her mind. "Hey, would you drive around towards the other gym?"

Serena raises her eyebrows and looks to her best friend in question. "Why am I driving around to the other gym?"

"Would you just do it?"

"Oh my god, you want to watch all of the sweaty basketball players come out of practice don't you?!"

"Serena, that's what you want to do…"

"Not all of them! Just one." Serena says dreamily as a certain, specific player crosses her mind.

Alex rolls her eyes again as Serena turns around in the parking lot and starts driving around the school towards the other gym. They drive slowly and conspicuously as the two of them peer out of their windows at whatever Alex is looking for.

"Hey, what's Kim doing over here?" Serena states out loud as she is about to roll down her window to call out to the brunette.

"Shhh!" Alex exclaims as she practically flies across the consol to slap Serena's hand away from her window clicker. "That's what I was wondering…what's she doing over here."

"How'd you know she'd be over here?"

"Gut feeling."

The two watch as Kim paces by her self outside of the gym as she appears to be waiting for someone. Moments later, the basketball team begins filing out of their practice, much like the cheerleaders had not even twenty minutes prior.

"Oh my god, she is so hot." Serena breathes as she begins to mentally drool over Olivia. "Look at her, how could you just NOT think she's hot?"

For what feels like the thousandth time, Alex rolls her eyes. Said eyes narrow, however, when she sees Abbie exit the gym and immediately go over to Kim. The two share small conversation before the taller brunette nods her head towards her car.

"Oh, she's getting a ride from Abbie." Serena says, thinking out loud. It takes a full five seconds for what's going on to hit her smack in the face before she turns to Alex with widened eyes. "Alex, no."

"I didn't even say anything Serena." Alex replies as she sits back and folds her arms.

"You didn't have to. I see it your eyes." Serena states as she shakes her head.

"I just want to know what's going on."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure that it's not what you think."

"You didn't see them in the gym before practice started. They were flirting and don't you try to tell me that they weren't because you weren't event there and I of all people should be able to tell when Abbie was flirting. Of all the people to cheat on me with, she chooses my best friend?!"

Serena's eyes widen to the size of planets and her mouth practically hits the floor of her car. "Alex stop. That's irrational and you are jumping to some pretty serious conclusions. Some pretty ridiculous conclusions if you ask me. Abbie loves you and Kim is your best friend and I can almost promise that neither of them would do that to you."

Alex snorts bitterly at the comment. "How can you promise anything like that when you don't know for sure? I know I might be jumping to conclusions right now but look at how cozy they're being. What else am I supposed to think?"

"Well here's what you can do. You can go up to one of them like a civil person and ask them what's going o-"

"No. They're up to something Serena, and if I mattered to them as much as you say that I do then they will tell me what's going on, but until then, I'm just going to quietly observe. But honestly, since when did they start getting buddy-buddy like this? I didn't even know that they talked. I mean, I knew they talked but not like 'oh hey, let's sneak around and start hanging out after school and stuff but not tell anybody."

Serena rolls her eyes as she drums her fingers against her steering wheel. "I don't know…it does seem weird, but just don't do anything stupid…I feel like I've been having to say that a lot lately, but seriously. Don't mess up your friendship and your relationship because of some stupid insecurity."

"I won't, alright?" Alex replies exasperatedly. "Just keep an eye on them for me, alright? I just want to know what's going on and if they won't tell me, then I'm going to find out for myself."

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

Casey enters her home with the same caution that she does every day that she goes home. She enters the living room and finds it littered with even more empty alcohol bottles than the day before. Dropping her backpack onto the couch, she looks around for her mother but doesn't find the woman anywhere in sight. "Mom?"

"You're late." Christine states firmly from where she's appeared from the kitchen. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I was at the library studying. I-I called but you didn't answer so I left a message on the phone." Casey replies nervously as she's seen this look in her mother's eyes before and that situation didn't particularly end in her best interest.

Christine eyes her daughter with violent eyes before she brings her bottle of vodka to her lips. "I'm sitting here worrying my ass off about you and you're out doing fuck knows what where ever the fuck you are. You come home when you're supposed to, you understand me?"

Casey hangs her head before she gives the tinniest of head nods. "Yes Ma'am…" she mutters quietly. Unfortunately, she's so focused on not looking at her mother, she doesn't here the older woman cross the room and she doesn't realize it until she's being roughly and forcefully shoved to the floor where she falls and cuts her arm on the broken glass piled there.

"You fucking look at me when I'm talking to you!" the older woman screams before flinging the now empty bottle in her hands at her daughter.

Fortunately, Casey's reflexes kick in as she rolls over and dodges the glass that was being flung towards her head. "Mom, stop!" she exclaims as her mother begins to swing at her. She hates it when her mother is a violent drunk, and unfortunately as of late, this has been happening more often than not.

"You ungrateful little monster! After all I've done for you in your life, you can even return the favor by coming home on time!"

"I'm sorry! Please! Stop!"

Christine grunts and shoves Casey hard once again which causes the teen stumble and fall through the glass coffee table. She grunts and continues to murmur to her self as she makes her way to her bedroom and slams the door shut, rattling the rest of the house.

Casey groans as she shifts and she slowly yet carefully picks her self up off of the floor. She makes her way to the bathroom where she decides that it's time she examines this time's injuries. They aren't that bad this time, except the bleeding cut that has the red liquid running down her arm to her elbow, but it's nothing that can't be fixed with a bandage.

After fixing up her wound, she exits the bathroom with a sigh and makes her way to the living room where she begins to clean up the massive mess around the house. Judging by the silence coming from her mother's bedroom, she can deduce that the woman has fallen asleep. Thankfully, things weren't as bad as they could have been, but that doesn't make Casey feel any better about the situation.

* * *

**Later **

_Have you ever fed a lover with just your hands?  
Closed your eyes and trust it, just trust it?  
Have you ever thrown a fistful of glitter in the air?  
Have you ever looked fear in the face and said, "I just don't care."?_

It's only half past the point of no return  
The tip of the iceberg, the sun before the burn  
The thunder before the lightning and the breath before the phrase  
Have you ever felt this way?

Have you ever hated yourself for staring at the phone?  
Your whole life waiting on the ring to prove you're not alone  
Have you ever been touched so gently you had to cry?  
Have you ever invited a stranger to come inside?

It's only half past the point of oblivion  
The hourglass on the table, the walk before the run  
The breath before the kiss, and the fear before the flames  
Have you ever felt this way?

La La La La La La La La

There you are,  
Sitting in the garden,  
Clutching my coffee,  
Calling me sugar  
You called me sugar

Have you ever wished for an endless night?  
Lassoed the moon and the stars and pulled that rope tight?  
Have you ever held your breath and asked yourself will it ever get better than

_tonight?  
Tonight_

Kim ends her ballet routine in a split position on the hardwood floor breathing quite heavily, while Abbie watches from the other side of the room in complete and utter amazement.

"Wow." Abbie says as she rubs the back of her neck. "That was…that was pretty amazing."

"Thanks." Kim replies as she gets up from the floor and acknowledges the taller brunette who she didn't even know was watching her. "I still need to write more for it, but that's what I have so far. Kind of a rough draft I guess."

"It was still really good though. What made you choose that song?"

"It was my oldest sister's favorite song. After she died in a car accident, I swore that I wouldn't listen to it again, but when I was writing my ballet routine, I needed a song that I could show emotion to so I chose that one. I guess in a way I sort of feel like it's her performing again through me; that it's really her out here dancing instead of me."

Abbie raises her eyebrows in surprise and nods her head. "Wow, that's…pretty deep. It's really a great song, I like it. I knew your family was into the whole dance thing, I've just never seen you dance before. You're really good."

Kim smiles before she takes a swig from her bottle of water. "Thanks. Cheer is the closet thing I can get to dance at school so that's why I chose to be on the squad. The only member of my family that isn't really into dance is one of my brothers. He wasn't ever really into the whole dance thing."

"How many siblings do you have exactly?"

"Seven. Six if you don't count my deceased older sister. Right now I have an older sister, two older brothers, and two younger sisters. My older sister, Carmen, was a senior when we were freshman. You might not remember her though. But yeah, there's…quite a few of us."

"I'll say." Abbie replies with a shake of her head in astonishment. "And I thought my little brother was annoying. You're almost the middle child out of a whole bunch of siblings."

Kim shrugs her shoulders after a moment of thinking. "It's not that bad…sometimes. We all bond through dance though, so that's one thing that comes out great." she pauses before continuing on. "So are you ready to do this? Something tells me with you this is going to be worse than pulling teeth out without anesthesia."

Abbie's jaw drops as she frowns deeply. "Hey! Are you implying that I have absolutely no coordination what so ever?!"

"No, if I was implying that I would have just simply said it. I know that you have coordination; you couldn't play basketball if you did not. However, dance coordination and sport coordination are two completely different kinds of coordination." Kim replies before she clicks her tongue. "I take it back. They're the same but different. In basketball, you have to work with your team in order to win the game and become successful, no? The team has to function as one in order to achieve success. That's basically how dance is. Two people have to move as one in order to be successful. Does that make sense?"

"Kinda…" Abbie replies, running a hand through her hair. "Thank you for helping me with this by the way. I felt kind of weird coming to you and asking for this but I really did want to do this for her."

"It's no problem. I'll admit, I was a bit surprised, but I'm happy to help. I think what you're doing is really sweet."

"I just want to surprise Alex, you know? Since I missed the whole homecoming thing. Please keep it a secret though. I want it to be a surprise for her. Plus, I don't know what the rest of the team would think if they found out I was taking dance lessons."

Kim snorts and tries her best to contain her laughter. "Because it would totally ruin your 'macho' status." She says sarcastically. "And don't worry. I won't tell Alex. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

"Thank you." Abbie replies, heaving a nice sigh of relief.

"Great, so let's get started." Kim states as she approaches the taller girl. "Alright, I know this is probably going to kill you, but you're going to have to touch me…"

Abbie's eyes widen and a blush immediately creeps it's way onto her face. "What? U-um…isn't there a way that you could teach me this without me having to…"

Kim rolls her eyes and folds her arms tightly. "Abbie, it's ballroom dancing. There is no type of ballroom dance that I could teach you to where two people are standing five feet away from each other."

"I-I know…it's just I um have a girlfriend and-"

"You aren't comfortable with touching another girl, let alone your girlfriend's best friend, I get that. And I respect you for that too, because if you ever cheat on Alex I will personally cut off all of your fingers and then feed them to you." Kim warns with a serious tone and glare before her expression softens once again. "But we're friends Abbie, and nothing is going to happen. I'm just teaching you how to dance. Okay?"

"Okay…" Abbie murmurs with a small head nod.

Kim eyes her for a minute before she takes a deep breath and continues on. "Alright, place your right hand on my left shoulder blade." She instructs, not missing the hesitation in her friend's eyes. She waits patiently as she watches Abbie hesitate several moments before doing as instructed and resting her right hand where she was told. "Good lord, if this is how you are with the simple stuff I can't imagine how you're going to be when I try to teach you the Cha-Cha and your hand is supposed to go in my hip…"

"What?!" Abbie exclaims in alarm with widened eyes as she flinches away.

Kim groans and pinches the bridge of her nose. Obviously this is going to be a hell of a lot harder than she thought it was.

**Does anyone know THAT song up there? ALSO one of my favorite songs and my sister actually did a ballet routine to it so 'hey what the hell'. Anyhow, I see a couple of you have conformed on one idea, but if I DID do that, part of me would feel like I would be over using JJ's character…like…total over usage. I don't know. I mean, I did think about it, but I just feel I'd be over doing it. Anyhow, don't forget to leave your thoughts! **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So a couple of you have said that you feel Alex is too needy and insecure in this story. Guys, I'm writing her as a sixteen year old girl who is heavily influenced by love at the moment and there is a reason that I'm doing that. Something is going to have to happen in order for Alex's personality to completely do a 180 degree spin and we'll start to get to that in the next few chapters or so. Anyhow, hope you all enjoy! **

"Casey, would you mind staying after class for a moment." Mrs. Reynolds calls out to the redhead just as the bell rings, signaling the end of the class period.

Casey sighs quietly to her self and catches a glimpse of Amanda who is eyeing her sympathetically. She tears her gaze away from the younger blonde and approaches the teacher just as the final student files out of the classroom. "Yeah?"

The dark haired woman who looks to be in her mid to late twenties folds her arms and leans against her desk with a look of curiosity on her face. "Casey, will you tell me what's going on with you? Maybe it'll help explain why you're failing my class…"

Casey's hardened expression slips for a moment before it quickly returns with full on force. She huffs bitterly and shrugs as she rolls her eyes defiantly. "I don't care." She says dismissively, aching to get out of the teacher's classroom.

"You don't care or you don't understand? Because there is quite a difference between the two." The older woman responds, receiving no response from the rebellious in front of her. She shakes her head as she moves behind her desk and begins ruffling through some papers. She pulls out a certain piece of paper and returns to where she is standing in front of her desk once again. "This is the last test that we took Casey. It looks like you actually tried on this one as opposed to your others where you had just left everything blank except for your name. Here, take a look at it."

"What's it matter if I tried or not…I still failed." Casey mumbles as she takes her test and stares at the 62 and the red lettered 'F' at the top of her paper.

"It matters because it lets me know that you really don't understand the material. There was a reason that I set Amanda up with you to tutor you and I was hoping that you would understand that reasoning. I just want to know what else it is that I can do to help."

"I don't need any help."

"Casey, you're failing all of your classes. As your teacher, it's my job to be concerned about you and you're grades. It's also my job to find you some help. I figured you would be more comfortable with peer tutoring than you would with teacher student tutoring, but I honestly don't know what else I can do. But sweetie, you can't keep continuing to fail like this. I see a lot of potential in you, but you're going to have to try harder Casey."

Tears sting behind Casey's eyes as she stares down at the floor intently. Immediately she curses her self for feeling like she's about to cry. She simply doesn't cry and she will be damned if she's going to cry in front of one of her teachers. Clenching her teeth tightly together, she forces her self to keep her tears at bay before she looks up again. "I don't want any help, I don't need any help. I don't get why none of you understand that."

Mrs. Reynolds pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs once more. "I suppose if you won't compromise with me, there really isn't much of anything that I can actually do."

"Great, can I go now?"

"Yes, you can go…"

Casey quickly spins on her heel and exits the classroom. She makes her way into the hallway, not exactly in much of a hurry to get to her next class. Once she's maybe about half way there, she decides that she's just going to skip it. There's really no point in going there just to sit and listen to a teacher ramble on and on about something that she literally doesn't care about anyway.

Shoving her hands in her pockets, Casey lets her mind wander to that of a certain beautiful blonde that won't even give her the time of day. She's had a crush on Alexandra Cabot since freshman year and it has always seemed like the gorgeous cheerleader won't even bother to do so much as to give her a second glance.

"It's all because of that stupid scarecrow." Casey mumbles quietly to her self as her mind then shifts to the literal bane of her existence. No matter how many times she tries, there is not a damn thing that she can find about Abbie that she does not despise, though the number one thing is the fact that the athletic brunette is going out with the girl of her dreams. It also makes matters worse in letting her know where Alex's standards are. Casey knows that everything that Abbie is, she isn't, and she feels like it will be a cold day in hell before she ever has any kind of chance against all of that.

As she continues to walk to halls, her mind then travels back to her mother who she is constantly worrying about. Her mother isn't always a violent drunk, most of the time, she's very depressed and quiet, but when she does get violent, it frightens Casey more than usual simply because she has no idea of what she's supposed to do. She doesn't want to defend her self against her mother because she fears that she'll end up hurting the older woman, but at the same time, the very last thing she wants to come out with is another flesh wound.

Her heart skips a beat when she sees Alex exit one of the bathrooms and begin heading in her direction. Her breath hitches in her throat when she full begins to take in the other girl's appearance as her eyes rake over her body from her perfectly straight blonde hair all the way down to her shoe covered feet.

"Hey Princess." Casey greats with her typical smug grin as she is finally able to regain her composure.

"Hi," Alex manages to reply, risking looking the redhead in the eyes for once. "What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be in class right now?"

"I could say the same thing about you, you know."

"It's my free period. You on the other hand, I doubt have a free period."

Casey shrugs her shoulders as she begins to walk with Alex down the hall. "I pick and choose my own free periods when I feel like it. Right now is a free period from environmental science. Lucky me."

Alex narrows her eyes before she shakes her head in disapproval. "So in other words, you're skipping class." She states before she chuckles quietly. "Why am I not surprised?"

"I can be fully of surprises if you want me to." Casey says as she abruptly steps in front of the blonde, stopping her in her tracks. "Does the scarecrow give you very many surprises?"

"I wish that you wouldn't call her that." Alex mumbles as she nudges Casey out of her way and continues walking. "And she surprises me plenty, thank you very much."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"That's none of your business."

"That's 'cause there isn't anything." Casey chortles before she settles on grinning suggestively. "You know, you're looking extra hot today. Has anyone told you that yet?"

Alex rolls her eyes again, glancing at the red haired teen out of the corner of her eye. "I don't need to be told to know that it's true. You would probably still say the same thing if I came to school in a garbage bag."

Casey's eyes dance mischievously at the comment. "Ooo, I bet that would be sexy. The less clothing the better right? When's the next time you're gonna wear that cute little cheer outfit?"

"Why are you such a creep? Can't you like me but still not be creepy about it? You do realize that every time you even think about looking at me, my girlfriend gets more than pissed off."

"Explain to me how that's a problem of mine."

"Because I'm not always going to be there to stop her from kicking your ass like she so desperately wants to." Alex states in a 'duh' manner. "Why do you always insist on continuing to poke the hornet's nest anyway? Why do you like provoking her?"

Casey's grin widens as she shrugs her shoulders. "Because I hate her and it's fun. It's not my fault she's just like a big angry teddy bear whose feelings are always hurt. You know, I've wondered, how come she and you're mean friend Kim are acting all cozy-cozy all of a sudden?"

Alex furrows her eyebrows and places her hands on her hips as she stops walking. "Kim isn't mean. She's probably just mean to you because she has an insanely low tolerance for ignorance and you are probably the source of all of said ignorance. Plus, she still may not be over that time that you tried to feel her up at the legacy dance last year."

"It was dark, I was horny, she was there; can you blame me?"

"Yes, actually, I can."

This time Casey is the one to roll her eyes as she dismisses Alex's comment. "ANYWAY, I'm just saying. She and your girl have been spending quite a bit of time together lately. Just wondering how you felt about that."

Something briefly flashes across Alex's facial features and as soon as it's there, it's gone. "As I so kindly stated before, that is none of your business. That's something you should probably consider working on." She states, before noticing the bandage on the other girl's arm. "What happened to your arm?"

Casey flinches and immediately rolls down the sleeve of her hoodie. "Nothing. I scraped it on some stupid fence when I was walking home yesterday."

"You should be more careful then." Alex states before her eyes narrow into thin slits. "What do you mean by Abbie and Kim have been 'cozy' lately? What have you seen?"

"Ooo, someone getting suspicious isn't she?"

"Shut up and just answer my question."

"What's in it for me? What do I get in return?"

"…what do you want?"

"Kiss me."

"No chance in hell." Alex responds, wrinkling her nose as she turns to leave.

Casey rolls her eyes and moves to where she is standing in front of the blonde once again. "Alright, alright. They've just been talking a lot more, that's all. I've seen them together a lot more than usual. I'm not saying anything is going on, you just asked, I just answered."

Alex hums as she folds her arms tightly. "I see." She mumbles before clearing her throat. "Well thank you for sharing that small piece of information."

"So I take it I don't get that kiss then huh?"

"How about I slap you instead?"

"No thanks."

"That's what I thought."

**Later **

"There is absolutely no way in hell that you're going to make that." Olivia shouts over to her best friend who is standing all the way on the other side of the court under the opposite goal.

"You wanna bet on that Benson?" Abbie shouts back with a rather confident smile on her face.

"Hell yeah I do. Fifty bucks says that you don't make that." Olivia states as she folds her arms tightly.

Abbie raises her eyebrows as she dribbles the basketball back and forth between her legs. "That's a pretty confident amount of money. Fifty bucks it is then! But don't get mad when you have to pay up."

"Whatever. Just shoot the ball so you can fail miserably and I can laugh at you and take your money." Liv calls back.

Abbie shakes her head with a grin on her face as she dribbles the ball several times. She sets it firmly in her hands as she focuses hard onto this one shot. Dribbling one last time, she puts as much power as possible behind the shot and sends the ball flying across the court.

Olivia watches in complete amazement as the basketball sails through the air towards the opposite goal. Her eyes pop and her mouth practically hits the floor when the ball goes through the net with a satisfying 'swish' sound. "Oh my…no fucking way." she whispers as she is suddenly startled by Abbie's hysteric laughter.

"Pay up Benson!" Abbie shouts as she begins doing her own little impromptu victory dance before she makes her way over to her pouting best friend. "Stop pouting Liv, it's not a cute look on you."

"Shut up." Olivia grumbles as she tosses the ball in Abbie's direction. "You're a real show off, you know that?"

"Eh, only when I wanna be." Abbie replies before a smirk spreads across her face. "So, I've been meaning to ask, are you and Serena like a thing now or…?"

Olivia blushes immediately and shrugs her shoulders as she angles her gaze to the ground. "I dunno…"

"What do you mean 'you dunno'. You kissed her at homecoming!"

"How'd you know about that?"

"She told me."

"That's not the point. I just…I kinda don't know how to ask her out you know? 'Will you go to homecoming with me' is a hell of a lot different from 'will you be my girlfriend'…."

Abbie's eyes widen and her mouth falls open in shock. "You haven't even asked yet?! What is this!"

"I'm nervous alright!" Olivia responds defensively.

"Wow, and here I was thinking that you had game Benson. Obviously I was wrong."

"Hey, shut up alright? It's not that easy. How'd you ask Alex to be your girlfriend anyway?"

"I asked her out and then asked her to be my girlfriend when I walked her to her door. Then she kissed me any here we are."

Olivia shakes her head and runs her fingers through her hair. "I don't think I can do that…Serena's different from Alex."

Abbie pats her best friend reassuringly on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll figure it out. And if not, that's why I'm here to help." She states before she glances at her watch. "Speaking of which, what time do the cheerleaders get out of practice?"

"In about five or ten minutes, why? Plans with Alex?"

"Not exactly, but I do have plans."

"With whom?"

"Don't worry about it…"

Olivia holds up her hands in surrender at the statement. "Well alright then."

"Wanna go watch?" Abbie says after a brief moment of silence.

"Not really…"

"Too bad, let's go."

**Meanwhile….**

"Who is that and where did she come from?" Serena states quietly in reference to the petite blonde wearing glasses sitting on the bleachers. "Alex, who is that?"

"No idea. I've never seen her before until literally just now." Alex responds as she continues to eye this spontaneous new girl.

Kim approaches her two best friends with a raised eyebrow. "Why are you two staring? You both look utterly creepy right now."

Alex shoots Kim a glare but it's Serena who actually speaks up. "Because we're wondering who she is! When did she get here anyway?"

"She has literally been here the entire time." Kim says flatly before she shakes her head. "Anyway, her name's Jennifer. She's a new transfer here. I only know that because she was in my AP Bio class earlier."

"So what's she doing here?" Alex speaks up, still not even bothering to make eye contact with her dark haired friend…or if she can still say friend with the amount of trust that has been violated apparently.

At this, Kim shrugs her shoulders. "I guess she's a cheerleader apparently. You know you could always just go over there and ask."

Alex huffs and moves to pick up her stuff when their captain starts speaking. "Alright ladies, before we end today's practice, there's someone I want you to me." Carly states as she now has the new blonde standing next to her. "This here is Jennifer and she just moved here from New Jersey. She's going to be joining our squad so I expect all of you to be welcoming, and treat her like you would normally treat each other on a good day. Thank you guys for a successful practice and I hope you all have a great weekend."

Alex rolls her eyes and sneers at the older girl before turning around. "I am so glad that bitch is graduating." She mumbles as she picks up her stuff. "You know she's only being nice because of the new girl."

"Yeah," Serena agrees quietly before she perks up once again. "Let's go say hi to her!"

"No, Serena I really don't…ugh…" Alex groans as she finds her self being dragged in the new girl's direction. She never really has been a fan of new people.

"Hi Jennifer!" Serena greets, probably a little louder than necessary, slightly startling the new girl. "I'm Serena and this is my best friend Alex." She states before pointing the brunette over by the bleachers. "And that over there is our other best friend Kim. We're all really glad to meet you and it's cool that you're going to be joining our squad!"

Jennifer blinks blankly before a nervous smile flickers across her face. "Um…thanks. It's nice to meet you all, too. But please call me JJ. I can't stand going by Jennifer all the time." She replies nervously, shrinking a little under Alex's icy gaze. "Um…is there a problem?"

Alex realizes that she's zoned out and she shakes her head before smiling. "No, um, sorry. I've just got a lot on my mind right now; nothing against you. It's really cool to meet you and welcome. I hope you like it here."

Jennifer exhales a sigh of relief and nods her head. "Thanks. It was really nice meeting both of you and I enjoyed observing practice today, but I really have to go. I'll see you two around though right?"

"Yeah totally! Maybe we'll even eat lunch together!" Serena exclaims excitedly, earning yet another nervous smile from the new girl. "Bye!"

Alex waits until the blonde is out of ear shot before she bursts into hysteric laughter. "Serena, you are too much of a people person. I bet you scared the poor thing."

Serena frowns as they begin walking out of the gym. "Hey, I was trying to be friendly, unlike you who zoned out and ended up glaring death holes into her. What's up with you anyway? Or are you still upset with you know who?"

Before Alex can respond, Kim comes jogging out of the gym after her. She rolls her eyes and glares at Serena who sends her an apologetic shrug. She turns around and raises her eyebrows expectantly.

"Can we talk for a minute?" Kim asks, giving Serena a look that says it's more of a private talk. Serena nods her head and gives her two best friends a small smile before she heads out towards her car.

Alex sighs heavily and crosses her arms tightly over her chest. "What is it Kimberly." She says coldly, not afraid to let her iciness slip through her voice.

"That…" Kim states with widened eyes. "That is what we need to talk about. What's going on with you lately? You've been acting as if you hate me and I can't understand why. Whatever it is I did to make you this upset, but can you please tell me what it is I did so I can at least have the opportunity to explain myself."

"You're sorry?"

"Yes I'm sorry."

"I don't believe you." Alex states firmly with pursed lips.

Kim's mouth falls open in shock and for once in her life she is rendered speechless. "W-what? Alex, I don't even know what I did!"

"If you were smart, you should be able to figure it out. You shouldn't even have to ask!"

"What's going on?" Abbie says cautiously as she approaches the two arguing girls. "Is everything alright?"

Alex's eyes narrow thinly as she sets her glare on her girlfriend. "Now isn't the time Abbie." She growls, before she shakes her head. "No, in fact it is. What's going on with you two?"

"What?" the two brunettes respond simultaneously, though Kim is the very first to fully recover. "Nothing is 'going on' Alex; what are you even talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about! The two of you have been sneaking around and talking lately. You're hanging out more than ever and I'm not the only person who has noticed it! What's going on?"

"Nothing is going on." Abbie speaks up placing her hands on her angry girlfriend's shoulders. "I know what you're thinking and I swear to you that what you're thinking is far from the truth. There's nothing going on between Kim and I…not when I have you."

Alex closes her eyes and rests her head on her girlfriend's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I-I just…I don't get to spend any time with you and that makes me angry…I feel like we're drifting a part."

Seeing that the two need a little more than a private moment, Kim speaks up. "Hey, uh, I'll just catch a ride from Serena. You two look like you could use some alone time."

Abbie nods her thanks towards the shorter girl before she takes her girlfriend's hand and begins walking towards her car. "So where do you want to go?"

"Why would you want to go anywhere with me? I'm a jerk." Alex murmurs quietly.

"You're not a jerk sweetheart, you're just…you were worried and you have a tendency to be worried a lot, but when you're worried it's a lot easier for you to come and talk to me than for you to just jump to conclusions like this."

"Aren't you mad at me? Because I wasn't trusting you?"

"I can't be mad at you for that because I haven't been giving you reason to trust me lately. We haven't been spending a whole lot of time together lately, but that's going to change now. Whatever you want to do over the weekend, we'll do it."

Alex smiles as she leans over and captures her girlfriend's lips in a small chaste kiss. "I love you and you're really sweet, you know that?"

"I love you too Babe."

**Interesting, no? Have no fear, weekend hijinks are ahead, mwahahahaha. Leave your thoughts? **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Chapter for you. Enjoy! **

"When I said that I was all yours this weekend, this probably wasn't exactly what the very first thing that came to mind." Abbie says with a small hint of amusement in her voice. She props her self up on her elbow and tucks a stray strand of golden hair behind her girlfriend's ear. "Are you okay?"

Alex nods her head as she continues to stare up at the ceiling of her bedroom. "Y-yeah, I think so. I just feel weird right now."

"Weird how?" Abbie responds, her amusement now replaced with genuine worry. "Do you regret it?"

"No, no, not weird like that." Alex answers with a shake of her head this time. "Weird in a good way I guess. I feel a little overwhelmed with everything right now. Like this is some sort of new chapter in our relationship. Am I supposed to feel like that?"

"As long as it's in a good way, I'm pretty sure it's okay."

"Can I ask you something? And can you be completely honest with me?"

"Of course."

"Have you done this before? With anyone else?"

Abbie bites down on her lower lip and rolls over onto her back as she hesitates a little on the question. "Ah...yeah, I have. It was before we started dating and there was this girl who kept coming on to me. We did it, but it didn't really mean much of anything. Not like it just meant with you."

Alex blushes fire engine red as she shuffles down under her covers a little more. "I was afraid of messing up. I don't know why or how I could tell that you've done that before but I just could. Was I okay?"

"Sweetheart, you were perfect." Abbie replies as she brings the blonde's hand to her lips.

Alex rolls over to where she is straddling her girlfriend and their warm, naked bodies are pressed against each other. "I love you." she whispers before she leans down and takes the other girl's lips in a soft kiss. "You're so soft and warm…and you're all mine. No body else's; mine."

"A little possessive aren't we?" Abbie teases with a satisfied smirk on her face.

"Oh I am very possessive of what's mine, just like you are very possessive of what's yours." Alex purrs as she kisses Abbie once again, this time deepening the kiss. Their tongues duel and dance over dominance before Alex breaks the kiss to begin placing small love bites up and down the column of her girlfriend's neck.

"Oh my god, I am so telling Mom." Rachel sneers from her sister's doorway, startling the two older teens in the bed. "Oh my god, are you two naked in here?! Gross!"

"Get out!" Alex screeches as she throws one of her pillows at her little sister while Abbie is gradually shuffling further and further under the blankets. "What the fuck are you doing home right now?! Aren't you supposed to be at Britney's?!"

"I came home early because Britney had a family emergency." Rachel replies back, with that same sneer in her voice as earlier. "You are _sooooo_ busted. Wait until Mom finds out you and Abbie had sex in here while she was out of the house. She is going to be sooooo pissed!"

Alex's eyes narrow into thin, deadly slits and she moves to get out of bed but is then promptly reminded that her clothes are scattered all over her bedroom. "Rachel, I swear. Get the fuck out of my room!"

Rachel continues to laugh to her self as she backs out of her sisters room and disappears down the hall to her own, leaving two very embarrassed teens in her wake.

"I am going to have to kill my own sister." Alex deadpans as she drops her head into her hands. "Oh my god, I cannot believe that just happened." She continues to mumble, lifting her head from her hands when she doesn't receive and kind of responds. She turns to her right and finds a body shaped lump under her blankest. With a sigh, she yanks the blanket down and reveals her very embarrassed girlfriend who is staring intently at the ceiling.

"Your Mom is going to kill me." Abbie states before her eyes widen to the size of saucers. "Your DAD is going to kill me. Oh my god Alex, you have to keep your sister from telling…"

Alex drags her fingers through her hair and lets out a puff of air. "My first time with my girlfriend and my little sister walks in on us. Why do the forces of nature despise me so much?! She wasn't even supposed to be home for another two hours! Damnit…look, maybe it's best if you go right now. I have a lot of damage control to do before my parents get home."

Abbie nods her head as she awkwardly crawls out of bed and begins gathering up her clothes. "I think that's a good idea for right now. Um, I'll call you later?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine." Alex shakily responds as puts on her clothes and walks her girlfriend to the door. The two share one last kiss before Alex closes the door and sprints back up the stairs to deal with her ever so annoying little sister. "You of course realize that I am now going to have to kill you, right?"

Rachel raises her eyebrows from where she is stretched out across her bed before a sly smirk crosses her face. "I'm so glad to see that you realize how much trouble you're going to be in when Mom and Dad find out."

Alex shakes her head as she steps into the room and closes the door. "Mom and Dad aren't going to find out, because you aren't going to tell them, got it?"

"And say that I 'don't' tell Mom and Dad, what's in it for me?"

"Ugh, what do you want?"

"Seventy five bucks and you have to do my chores for the next three and a half months."

Alex narrows her eyes and practically growls as she continues to stare down her sister. "…Fine, deal…You're an evil little bitch you know that?" she grumbles as she folds her arms tightly.

Rachel's face lights up and she gives Alex a wide grin. "I love you too big sis!"

* * *

"Five….six…five six seven eight. One two three four, up six seven eight, spin two three four, down six seven eight. Step two three four, down six seven eight. Prep one, up two, twirl…two…three…four and freeze."

Abbie slightly tilts her head in amazement as she stares at the four brunettes arraigned by height and age hold what looks to be a rather difficult ballet pose. "Wow…"

"Relax." The oldest instructs, earning a small sigh of relief from the youngest girl. "Are you serious? This isn't even the hard stuff yet…"

"She's still learning Carmen, cut her some slack." Kim states with a small shake of her head before she notices that Abbie has been watching them the entire time. "Hey Abbie; you're a little early aren't you?"

"Um, yeah…I hope that's not a problem or anything." Abbie replies before she feels the need to clear her throat.

"No, it's no problem." Kim replies, gazing up at the taller girl and flinching when she hears a throat clear behind her. "Oh, right. Uh, Abbie, these are my sisters. That's Carmen, Caroline, and the little one here is Kennedy. Guys, this is Abbie, a friend of mine."

While Caroline and Kennedy settle on the simplicity of waving, Carmen, being the ever more socialite of the family, steps forward and extends her hand towards the younger girl. "It's a pleasure to meet you. You must be special. It's not everyday that Kim here allows us to meet any of her friends in person."

Kim flushes a dark shade of red and narrows her eyes. "Alright, okay. You're done now. Feel free to leave." She says quickly as she begins pushing her snickering older sister towards the back of the studio.

While Kim is busy trying to get rid of her older sister, her two younger ones take it upon themselves to approach Abbie and stare up at her with genuine curiosity on who she really is.

"Are you my sister's girlfriend?" Caroline asks bluntly as she folds her arms over her chest.

Abbie's eyes widen at the question and she quickly shakes her head. "What? No, no, ah, we're just friends. I'm dating someone else.

"Do you think my sister's pretty?" Kennedy asks innocently as she tilts her head adorably to the side.

"Um, I, ah…is this some sort of trick question?"

Instead of responding, both girls shrug simultaneously and continue to stare up at Abbie as if they are expecting an answer from her. Just as she's about to open her mouth to formulate some sort of response, Kim quickly returns and begins dragging her sisters out of the room; something Abbie has never been more grateful for.

"I'm so sorry about…them. I hope they didn't ask something too embarrassing or irrational." Kim mumbles as she returns, running an exasperated hand through her hair.

"Nothing too bad. They just asked me if I was your girlfriend…"

"Ugh, again, I am so sorry. I think that they have all conspired and live to embarrass me. My brothers are about ten times worse than them though. Anyway, do you want to get started? Show me what you remember?"

Abbie nods her head as the two of them take the dance position that she's become accustomed to in the time that they've been doing this. "I can't believe you're still willing to help me. Even after Alex kind of went off on you because she thought something was going on."

Kim thinks for a minute before she shrugs her shoulder. "It's whatever. I was a little upset earlier but now I'm over it. She's just a little insecure, that's all, but I'm sure once you amaze her with your dazzling dance moves, she'll fall in love with you all over again."

As they continue to dance through the song, Kim is amazed at how quickly the taller girl has been able to pick up on dancing; and too be honest, she's not exactly half bad.

"Just a side pointer; girls like it when you dip them."

"Like this?" Abbie questions, before she demonstrates a perfected dip.

Kim feels her throat go dry and she finds her self having to swallow thickly as she clears her throat and shakily nods her head. "Y-yeah, um…yeah, just like t-that." she stutters before she stands up straight and separates her self from Abbie's arms. "Wow, you're…coming along, great. You're a really fast learner."

Abbie smiles but it quickly fades when she senses something's off all of a sudden. "Are you alright? You're acting like something's wrong."

"No, nothing's wrong, I just…I-I need a minute okay? Excuse me." the typically composed dancer stammers before she sprints off towards the nearest bathroom, leaving a very confused Abbie in her wake.

* * *

**School **

"Hi, um, is there anyone sitting here?"

"No," Casey mumbles glumly as she lifts her head from where they were resting in her arms on the table. She turns towards the new voice and her eyes widen considerably when her gaze lands on a beautiful blonde who is staring back at her with nervous confusion. "Whoa, hi…who are you?"

The blonde blushes a little and angles her gaze to her notebook on the table. "My name's Jennifer. But you can call me JJ. I just moved here last week and I guess it took them a little while to completely finalize my schedule. I can find somewhere else to sit if you don't want me to sit here."

"No, no, it's fine…I'm just not used to anyone sitting here." Casey replies before she shows her lopsided grin and extends her hand. "I'm Casey by the way." she mewls, lingering a little longer on the handshake than she would a typical one. "You say you've only been here for a week?"

"Yeah; maybe just a couple days less than a week. We just got things settled with school and everything and we're still trying to unpack our house. Personally, I think moving sucks, but my parents thought it was for the best so here I am. Too be honest, as much as I hate moving, I'm kind of glad to get away from my old school back in New Jersey. The people there acted like they were raised in a complete barn house; though, I'm pretty sure most of them probably were. I'm sorry, I'm probably boring you with my constant rambling…"

Casey blinks her self back into reality as she realizes that she's gotten lost in the blonde's ocean blue eyes. She clears her throat and a nervous smile flickers across her face. Whoa, nervous? Since when does she get nervous? "Oh, no, it's uh, it's fine. I mean…I'm pretty sure that I would've asked anyway."

JJ smiles widely and ducks her head a little. "Oh, okay. It's just…I'm not used to being the new girl, you know? I don't really have any friends right now and for some reason you look like a very good listener. I'm supposed to be on the cheerleading squad here, but a lot of the girls on the squad seem a little…tense for some reason." She pauses as she takes a nervous deep breath. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling again aren't I? I start rambling this when I'm nervous. You probably want me to shut up now…sorry."

"No, it's okay, I think it's cute." Casey says with out stopping her self, slightly regretting the words as soon as they leave her mouth. "I mean…"

"You think I'm cute?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess…I mean…I…I'll just stop talking now." Casey mumbles, as she blushes the color equivalent to her hair.

JJ smiles as she watches the redhead blush and look away from her. "Thanks…" she says quietly before she turns in her seat and faces towards the front of the class.

Casey glances at the new girl out of the corner of her eye. She feels her blush creep all the way down to her neck and she can't help but wonder if she's so instantly attracted to this new girl because she resembles Alex or not. Who cares, she'll figure it out later.

* * *

"You two had sex? Oh my god, no way!" Serena gasps with eyes as big as the sun.

"Thanks for announcing it to the world." Alex mumbles as she sets about picking uninterestedly at her lunch. "But yes, we did have sex."

"How was it? What was it like? Was it everything that you thought it would be? Was it romantic? I want details!"

"Ew." Kim mumbles as she barely looks up from where she is staring blankly at her plate of untouched food. "Spare us the graphic details, please."

Alex rolls her eyes as she heaves a much needed sigh. "If you must know, it was amazing…all up until my little sister walked in on us in bed and then blackmailed me into paying her in return for her keeping quiet about what happened. But all up until then, it was amazing. Abbie was really sweet and gentle about everything. It was so romantic."

Serena bounces in her seat before she lets out a very girlish squeal. "Oh my gosh Alex, this is amazing! It's so romantic and sweet and I'm just so happy for you!" she squeals before she wraps her best friend in an impromptu hug.

"You make it seem like I've just learned how to ride a bicycle." Alex states before she frowns and realizes how her statement could be turned into something that she most definitely didn't mean. "On second though, don't either of you respond to that comment. I'm going to go throw my trash away and use the restroom, I'll be back."

Serena continues to bounce excitedly in her seat as Alex gets up and begins making her way inside towards the restroom. Her bouncing stops however when she realizes that her remaining best friend is looking rather down in the dumps at the moment. "What's going on with you?"

Kim sighs as she moves her food around her plate with her fork. "You ever kinda have a crush on somebody that you most definitely shouldn't have a crush on?" she mumbles, with out making eye contact with the bubbly blonde.

Serena's eyes widen once again, probably wider than before, and her jaw practically hits the table. " .GOSH. You like someone? I didn't even know that you were capable of liking anyone!" she states, probably a little louder than necessary.

"Wow, thanks Serena. You really do know how to make a girl feel good about her self." Kim mumbles in response as she shakes her head.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It just surprised me that's all. The closest I've ever seen you to someone was that time Casey groped you at the-"

"Do NOT talk about that. I have no idea how her bringing me a drink turned into her having her hands up my shirt. I remember I went home and took about ten showers that night because I felt so gross afterwards." Kim concludes with a shiver.

Serena rolls her eyes as she leans across the table. "Anyway, that's not the point. Who do you like?"

"It's not important who I like Serena, it's just the fact that I'm not supposed to like them. It makes me feel like a jerk."

"You haven't like…done anything with them right? Like…_done _anything?"

"Oh god, Serena gross, no. I just have a crush on them, jeez."

Serena hums before her face contorts into a serious frown. "It's not Casey Novak is it? Because if I is I'm going to shove you into the trunk of my car and beat you in an ally until you get your senses back because that would be just morbid, disgusting, and it would kill me."

Kim makes a face and vigorously shakes her head at the accusation. "Oh god no. I might not date a lot Serena, but I DO have standards." She states firmly before sighing. "And I don't want to tell you who it is. It's just…I like them, and I know I'm not supposed to and I feel like a bad person because I do. What am I supposed to do with that?"

"Gee Kim, I dunno. Sounds like your deep in the shit hole right now. What're you gonna do?"

"That's a damn good question…because I literally have no idea."

**Hm, not sure how I feel about this one. Anyway, leave your thoughts? Also, for A Day In The Life, I am looking for some Halloween themed prompts that I could just throw out there for you guys since it's almost Halloween :3 so leave your thoughts and Ideas on that too. **


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Yet another chapter I have typed out on my iphone, lol hope you guys enjoy!**

"Casey! Casey wait up!"

Casey slows her pace and fights the urge to roll her eyes when she sees JJ trying to catch up with her. It's not that she doesn't like the blonde, don't get her wrong, but she just cannot see what is so interesting about her that JJ just won't go away. Again, she's not complaining, she just doesn't understand. "Uh, hey."

"So where are you headed? Is there some cool hangout spot that all the cool kids hang out at after school? Is that where you're going?" JJ asks expectantly as she clutches her books tightly against her chest.

Casey lifts an eyebrow in curiosity before she shoves her hands deeper into her pockets. "Actually I was just heading home. And no there really isn't a 'cool kid' spot. Everyone just kind of goes their separate ways after school." She concludes before slightly tilting her head. "Don't you have cheer practice to go to or something?"

JJ quickly shakes her head at the question. "No, there was no practice today. I was just heading home myself when I ran into you. I had just assumed that you would be going out with your friends and stuff so I was kinda hoping I could tag along, you know, just to get to know some people."

"Tough luck with that. There aren't really people that I enjoy hanging out with. I'm not exactly a 'socialite' as some people so eloquently put it."

"I was over hearing a few girls talking earlier and they were saying that you were very social." JJ replies innocently, completely oblivious to the look of horror plastered across the redhead's face.

"And who were these girls might I ask?" Conquests no doubt, Casey thinks to her self as she blinks her self back into reality and shakes her head. "Never mind, I really don't want to know."

JJ nods her head though the smile doesn't fade from her facial features. "So, since you said that you were just heading home, does that mean that you didn't have any plans? Maybe you could show me around? The things that you like to do?"

"I'm ninety nine point nine percent sure that we are most definitely not into any kinds of the same things." Casey says with a humorous snort.

Meanwhile, Amanda is walking down the same hallway, chatting with her best friend Maura about a mixture of the historical discovery of quantum physic and the pros and cons of industrial sciences and manufacturing.

"On a completely different topic of interest, what do you think about the recent controversy in the media about several states wishing to abolish the Dewy Decimal System to come up with something that has a basis of more simplicities and comprehension?" Maura asks animatedly.

Amanda's face twists into concentration for a moment before she shakes her head disapprovingly. "I personally feel that such a decision would be very irrational. While speculators who are for the idea believe that it would be in better interest to come up with a more simpler idea, I for one believe that it would have the reverse effect and end up being far more complex. Doing away with such a proprietary library classification system would only put forth disaster and confusion amongst all of those who have become accustomed to the system. The idea in it self is completely absurd." She concludes, freezing in her tracks when she sees Casey chatting with a very bubbly blonde who seems to be rambling on and on about something or other. She immediately realizes that the girl is new and she wishes to save her from the lions den if need be.

"Oh dear not another one." Amanda sighs as she approaches the two juniors, immediately capturing the new girl's attention first. "Casey, you did not inform me that you had made a new friend."

Casey's jaw practically hits the floor before she tenses up and narrows her eyes at the younger girl. "I didn't know that I had to inform you of anything that I did in my life. Beat it Rollins."

"I am not Michael Jackson, there for I will not 'Beat It'." Amanda replies flatly before she smiles and turns towards the new girl. "Hello, my name is Amanda. And you are?"

"I'm JJ." JJ replies, shaking the slightly shorter girl's offered hand. "Are you a friend of Casey's or something?"

"Or something." Amanda says quietly before she clears her throat. "Anyway, is it safe to assume that you're a new student here? I don't mean to be rude, but I'm afraid that I haven't seen you here before and Casey here isn't much of the social butterfly, if you get what I'm saying."

JJ nods her head and grins widely. "Yep. I moved here last week. I don't really have any friends yet. I'm on the cheerleading squad but a few of them seem kind of mean. Especially this one girl. I have her in a few of my classes and I feel like there is this literal cold chill before she walks into a room." she concludes, shivering as if to emphasize her point.

"Does this girl happen to be skinny, tall, blonde, occasionally wears glasses but not all the time, and she's always hanging out with this other blonde chick? And she's always draped over one of the basketball players like a cheap curtain that was purchased at the ninety nine cent store?" Maura interjects with a tilt of her head.

"Yes that's exactly who I'm talking about!" JJ exclaims as she shivers again. "Is she a nice person?"

"Yes," Casey interjects quickly.

"No," Maura answers at the same time that Casey does.

"Kind of," Amanda answers as well and simultaneously as the other girls do, leaving JJ looking at them in confusion.

"I think she's nice." Casey mumbles as she folds her arms tightly across her chest.

"She's horrible. She was mean to me my entire freshman year…" Maura responds as she shrinks and shakes her head. "She's the devil. She made fun of me because I have an interest in the deceased. She called me dead girl all last year."

"She's…different." Amanda says simply with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Different in the sense of, it all depends on what time of the day you run into her in. Like if you catch her at a time that she's probably having issues with that girlfriend of hers, it would probably be in your best interest to not make any sudden movements and to just back away as slowly as possible."

JJ makes a face of disapproval and shakes her head. "I would say that I would try my best to avoid her but we are unfortunately on the same squad so there's not really much of anything that I can do about it I guess."

Casey clears her throat and glares hard at Amanda wondering what the hell she's doing. "Yeah whoop-dee-doo can we stop talking about Alex now? Yeah? Great, thanks. Why don't you two just beat it and go off and do whatever it is you nerds do after school?"

Both Amanda and Maura look offended as they both gasp simultaneously and places their hands over their hearts. "We prefer the term intellectually advanced thank you very much!" Maura exclaims offendedly.

"...intellectually advanced, nerd, it's all the same thing..."

"Anyway, the main reason for my presence was to come say hi to Casey" Amanda states before she glares at the redhead "and to tell her not to stick her hand in the cookie jar. The last thing that needs to happen is for Casey to steal more innocent goodies, no?"

Casey turns beat red from anger and she has to take several calming deep breathes in order to keep her frustrations in check. "GOODBYE Amanda..." She says forcefully through clenched teeth and a tight jaw.

"Good day, Novak. And I also expect you to be on time for our tutoring session tomorrow. You won't like it if I'm going to have to hunt you down like last time." the younger girl sad before she and her best friend head off towards their club meeting.

Casey stands fuming and to be honest, she isn't sure how her head hasn't quite exploded yet. Fucking sophomores.

"You steal cookies?" JJ asks innocently as she once again keeps up with the redheads steady pace as they exit the school.

"In a certain sense of the word. And I wouldn't call it 'stealing'." Casey replies before a smug grin spreads across her lips. "it's not exactly stealing if people give them to me, now is it?"

"Well, I guess not." JJ answers with a shrug. "So what kinds of things are you into? Reading? Partying? Sports?"

Casey stops walking a narrows her eyes. "I like skateboarding and watching people wipe out on bicycles."

JJ does nothing but give a nervous smile and chuckle. "Um...that's rather...negative."

"I'm a negative person." Casey replies with a nonchalant shrug.

"Why?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?"

"I can't help it. I guess I just want to know more about you and you're not exactly making this the easiest thing in the world."

"Why do you want to know more about me?" Casey questions, starting to become a little flustered. "Of all the stupid people in this stupid school, you continuously try it all to me. Why is that?"

JJ shrugs and suddenly becomes really interested in her shoes. "Because you seem interesting. Let me tell you about yourself. You're the rebellious kid right? Always late to class, doesn't care about what anyone says, authority included. You're into things most girls aren't. You march to the best of your own drummer and you don't care how loud he drums because you just don't care, am I right?"

"Little bit..." Casey replies, a little taken aback at the girls accuracy in her analysis. "That still doesn't explain why me."

JJ shrugs once again and that same innocent smile begins to creep across her face. "Like I said before, there's something about you that I find interesting. I'm new here Casey and I don't have any friends. In fact, I'm not the best at making friends because people find me strangely talkative and over observant. I'm taking a chance with you here, and chances aren't things that I'm used to talking. All I'm looking for is a friend and I can see that deep down under that tough exterior, you are too."

Casey snorts and playful rolls her eyes as she kicks at imaginary dirt under her shoes. "You make me sound like a hard coated teddy bear." She mumbles quietly. "There's a movie showing that I've really wanted to see. Would you care to join me...friend?"

JJ's sad smile is replaced with an excited one as she quickly nods her head. She can tell that the word friend is foreign on Casey's lips, but that's not something that can't be changed in the now not so distant future.

* * *

"You like her don't you?"

Kim is thoroughly startled by her older sister's question, though she doesn't show it in neither her posture nor her facial expression. "Who?"

Carmen isn't shy about the sly that is playing at her lips. "Don't you play dumb with me Kimmie. I see the way that you look at your 'friend' Abbie whenever she's here for her dancing lesson. You think that I'm not watching but I always am."

"I don't like her Carmen. At least not how you say."

"You forget that I've know you for sixteen years sweetie. I know you better than you know yourself."

Kim stares at her sister with a hard stare before her mask shatters and she sighs heavily. "She's my best friend's girlfriend."

Carmen's eyes light up and her sly catlike smile widens. "Ooo saucy. I never new you'd make for a good drama."

"No Carmen, it's not even like that. It's not like I can tell anyone about this. Do you know how upset Alex would be if at found out? Car, she shunned me for a week and a half because I was secretly teaching her girlfriend dance lessons! I can't imagine what she'd do if she found out I had a crush on her girlfriend! I'm not willing to risk my friendship with Alex over a stupid crush."

"Hypothetically speaking, what would you do if Abbie like you back?"

"She doesn't."

"I said hypothetically speaking."

Kim hesitates for a moment before she sighs heavily and shakes her head. "I couldn't do that to Alex. She's my best friend and best friends and crushes on best friends' girlfriends spells out trouble in big bold capital letters." She concludes with a sad sigh. "I wish Kristen were here right now."

Carmen gasps and feigns offense. "What, am I not enough for you?" She gasps jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

Kim chuckles quietly and sadly shakes her head. "No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm just staying that it's like she had all the answers you know? Anyone could go to her with any kind of problem and she would always have an answer." She whispers, cursing her self when her eyes start to become wet with tears. "I still miss her..."

"I do too. Sometimes when I'm dancing, I still feel like she's right there beside me dancing with me and other times I find my self looking for her so she could answer one of my questions. Hell, sometimes I look for her just to talk. I got out to her grave a chat with her sometimes. You should consider coming with."

"I don't think I could go there. I can't sit there and imagine her buried under all that dirt with nothing more than a cold stone slab to identify her."

Carmen nods her head and places a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Well think of it this way. Whenever you start finding an answer in your heart, just think of it as Krissy telling you what to do."

Kim nods sadly before she rests her head in her hands as she tries to figure out just how she is going to solve this problem before anyone besides her realizes that it IS a problem.

**I decided to give Kim a little segment to herself for some reason. Idk what purpose that served but I hope it was enjoyable, plus I needed a little break from my Alex/Abbie fest. Hope you guys enjoyed! Leave yours thoughts? **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: S****everal of you guys had questions about Kim's sister...I mentioned that she died in a car accident in chapter 5 lol, anyhow, hope you guys enjoy!**

"You didn't say that it was going to be a horror movie." JJ mutters with her arms tightly wrapped around her self as she and Casey exit the movie theater. "It really would've made a difference if you had."

Casey shrugs nonchalantly before she puts her hands in the pockets of her jacket. "Would you not have come if I told you that it was a horror movie?"

JJ stops walking before she presses her lips tightly together and gives a hesitant shrug. "I'm not saying that per say, I'm just saying that you would've given me a little more time to prepare myself on what I would be watching if you had told me what we were going to be seeing."

"C'mon Jayje, it wasn't that bad?"

"Jayje?"

Casey blushes and her gaze immediately goes down to her shoes. "Um, is that…not okay?"

"No, it's just…no one's ever called me that before." JJ states with a sheepish smile. "I like it."

"Great," Casey unintentionally squeaks, blushing further when she realizes her voice had raised an octave without her consent. "U-um, so, what was your favorite part of the movie?"

"I didn't really have a favorite part Casey. It was all very gory and suspenseful and those aren't really my kinds of things. Sorry…"

"Aw, but those were the best parts! Like when that guy got his ear chopped off by the killer that he didn't know was hiding in his shower? It was classic entertainment."

JJ sighs and shakes her head, though she doesn't hide the smile that is tugging at her lips. "I see that we're going to have to do a little work on you."

Casey raises an eyebrow in suspicion and tilts her head to the side. "Work like how? What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you. You're just…different, that's all. And that's okay. I like different. That's why I like you."

"You like me?"

"Yeah, I thought I already made that clear by me saying I wanted to be your friend. Why is that still so surprising to you?"

Casey shrugs before she sighs quietly to her self. "I dunno, I guess it's just because I don't really have friends. I guess technically the closest thing I have to a friend would be Amanda and even I don't consider her a 'friend'. She's just the annoying kid who has to tutor me in math. Whoa, isn't that sad?"

JJ hums and clicks her tongue before she continues on. "I bet if you were nicer to Amanda she would want to be your friend."

"Are you kidding? Why would I want to be friends with that geek anyway? We wouldn't have anything I common." The redhead snorts with a shake of her head.

JJ sighs and gives a disapproving shake of her head at Casey's comment. She just so happens to glance in the opposite direction and her heart shrinks drastically when she sees a rather familiar group of teenagers exiting one of the other theater auditoriums. "Oh no…" she mutters quietly as she involuntarily shuffles behind Casey.

Casey, meanwhile, is once again perplexed by her heart's desire, better yet known as Alex Cabot. She gives a small smile when the blonde glances in her direction, but said smile quickly fades when she locks eyes with deathly glare of her rival. Great.

"Hi JJ!" Serena says excitedly as she bounces ahead of the group to great her teammate and hopefully potential friend. "Uh, hi Casey."

"Hey," Casey replies in a seemingly bored fashion as she shoves her hands in her pockets and looks a completely different direction. Her attention is once again drawn back to the group when she sees Alex finally approach. Putting on her typical smug grin and allows her eyes to slowly rake over the gorgeous blonde's body. "Hey Princess."

Alex internally shudders as she feels Casey's gaze crawling over her. She swears that she hears Abbie nearly growl next to her and the brunette's grip on her waist suddenly becomes very tight. "Calm down," she says quietly into her girlfriend's ear, placing a reassuring hand on Abbie's shoulder.

Casey smirks as she sees that she's pushing Abbie's buttons and she is damn well sure that she's going to use most of it to her advantage. "You know Alex, you are looking insanely hot in that outfit." She says slowly.

"Thanks…" Alex mutters quietly, startling when Abbie suddenly tenses once again. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I can't come to the movies with a friend like normal people do?"

"Didn't even know you had friends." Abbie mumbles, scowling when Olivia pinches her to shut up. "Jennifer know about your slut reputation? Or how you turn girls into sluts? She know about how you bang anything that moves?"

"You're one to talk." Casey responds, though her confident smirk doesn't fade from her facial features. "The pot calling the kettle black, wouldn't you say, stud?"

"Fuck you Novak."

"In your own words from before, how about no thank you?"

Alex rolls her eyes and clears her throat before she turns her attention towards the new girl. "What're you doing hanging out with this creep anyway?"

JJ hesitates for a moment before she shrugs her shoulders. "She's good company." She replies quietly, suddenly feeling a little inferior under the blonde's harsh gaze. "What's it matter to you anyway?"

"Trust me, it doesn't. Just be careful, for your own sake." Alex warns before she and the other three girls walk out of the theater, leaving a very confused blonde in her wake.

"What'd she mean by that?" JJ asks innocently, looking at Casey with confusion.

"No idea." Casey replies quickly with a shrug before she hooks her arm through JJ's. "Let's get out of here, huh?"

JJ frowns as the two of them make their way out of the theater as well. "Casey, I don't understand. Is there a reason that people look at you the way they do?" she asks curiously, frowning deeper when she doesn't receive a response. "Answer me please. I just wanna know more about you remember?"

Casey sighs heavily before she rakes her fingers through her hair. "I kinda have a reputation at school, and it's not a very good one. I've…been a little…friendly with quite a few of the girls at school. Okay, maybe a little more than friendly but I think you catch my drift…"

"Oh….OH! Oh…oh dear…" JJ says quickly as a blush begins rising to her cheeks. "Is that the only reason you talk to me then? So I would…?"

"At first maybe, but now no…I can see that for some strange crazy reason, you actually want to be friends with me. You're a cool person and I guess what I'm saying is that I actually want to try out this…friend thing."

JJ's face lights up and her smile grows gradually. "You really mean it?"

"Y-yeah." Casey replies as she begins to rub at the back of her neck.

"Oh my gosh, we're going to have so much fun. We're going to go shopping and get mani-pedi's, and we're going to have so much fun!"

"S-shopping?"

"Yeah! Won't that be fun?"

"…great…"

* * *

"If you continue to talk about Abbie I swear that I'm going to hit you in the face." Serena says blandly as her eyes narrow.

Alex rolls her eyes at her best friend's comment as she continues to fix her hair in her mirror. "You're just jealous because I have the best girlfriend ever."

This time it's Serena who rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "Liv is really sweet Alex, don't even try to make it sound like she's not."

"I'm not saying that at all. I'm just simply saying that Abbie is the root definition of amazing. Look! She gave me this." Alex exclaims, showing off her brand new charm bracelet to her best friends though only one of them seems to be paying attention.

"Wow that is pretty amazing!" Serena beams as she examines the bracelet closer up.

"I know. I'm so in love with her guys. I feel like we're going to be together forever. You know if we ever get married my initials wouldn't change? I'd still be AC. Oh my gosh, it's so romantic." Alex sighs happily as she bats her eyelashes in the mirror. "So enough about me. I heard it through the grapevine that our little Kimmie is growing up and she actually has a crush on her.

Kim blushes immediately and her facial expression quickly hardens before she shoots Serena a death glare putting nearly a literal meaning to the saying 'if looks could kill'.

"Hey I had to recruit some investigative help since you wouldn't tell me who it was!" Serena exclaims, holding up her hands in defense.

"Who is it?" Alex questions excitedly.

"No one." Kim mutters sadly as she looks down at her hands. "Really guys, I'm not going to tell you. It's stupid anyway."

"Can you at least tell us about them?"

"Well, they are pretty amazing. They're easy to talk to and great to confide in. I feel like a lot of people don't really get me aside from you guy but they do and at the end of the day it's just really nice to have someone besides my best friends understand me. For some reason I feel like I can actually be myself around them and not worried about being judged."

Serena gasps and places her hand on her best in offense. "We don't judge you!" She exclaims. "We may be a little shocked that you of all people are a ballerina but we don't judge!"

"Not helping the cause..." Alex mumbles before she clears her throat. "What Serena means is that we're your best friends and you can trust us. Maybe we'll even help set you up with this special someone."

Kim snorts humorlessly before shaking her head. "Guys really...it's no big deal, just a small cause."

"You're gonna have to tell us sooner or later." Alex says amusedly as she stands up. "I'm gonna go check on the pizza. I'll be back."

Serena waits five seconds after Alex leaves the room before she turns back to Kim. "How long have you been into Abbie?" She deadpans.

Kim's eyes widen and her mind starts trying to frantically come up with a lie. Unfortunately she takes too long and Serena has long since been able to figure out the truth. "I-I a little while now I guess." She admits shamefully. "I've been giving her dancing lessons so she can surprise Alex so we've been dancing together. I've just kind of... I'm attracted to her, alright? Really...really attracted to her. Have I been obvious?"

"No, I'm just that observant that I was able to figure it out. I see that look in your eyes whenever she and Alex are together especially when we were at the movies earlier. I was able to put one and one together. So what're you gonna do?"

"How about nothing? It's just a stupid crush Serena and she's dating Alex! Why would you assume that something needs to happen?"

"Because the heart wants-"

"Well the heart is stupid." Kim says tersely. "I like Abbie okay? But I'm not going to do anything about it because I don't want to ruin my friendship with her or Alex."

Serena bites her bottom lip and stares at her friend sympathetically. "I'm sorry honey."

"It's my own fault. Just don't tell Alex okay? Promise me you won't."

"I promise..."

"Thanks..." Kim mumbles before tears spontaneously fall from her eyes. "Leave it to me to be the idiot that falls for my best friends girlfriend."

**Leave your thoughts?**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Eh, brief filler chapter but it's whatever. Hope you guys enjoy it. **

"Are you sure that you don't want to come? It would be really fun if you tagged along!" Serena whines as she pulls on the sleeve of Kim's jacket.

"Serena, I'm really tired of being a fifth wheel." Kim mumbles as she shakes her head. "Seriously, I'm sure you guys will have just as much fun without me there."

Serena pouts and folds her arms tightly before she plops down on her best friend's bed. "Then I'm not going."

"Serena, come on, be serious."

"I am being serious! We used to hang out all the time as friends! What's so different now?"

"Two things are different. I have become the fifth wheel, and I have a crush on Abbie. That's what's different, and if you ask me, those are pretty big factors in this situation. Seriously, don't throw away your night of fun because I'm not there. I'll just find something else today. Maybe I'll read or watch a movie or whatever, but I'll find something."

Sighing, Serena shakes her head and folds her arms tightly. "No. If that's how you're going to spend your Friday night, then that's how I'm going to spend my Friday night. Kim, you're still my best friend alright? Just because I have a girlfriend now does not mean that is my first priority."

Kim huffs humorlessly and draws her knees up to her chest. "Sure doesn't seem that way with Alex. With her, Abbie comes twice before anything else. Her relationship is her first priority over anything and everyone. You've noticed though right? That the three of us don't spend anytime together like we used to when we were little or anything before sophomore year? We used to be inseparable but then Alex went and got a girlfriend and now it's like the three of us don't spend anytime together as best friends anymore. I guess since you're with Liv now I…I guess I sort of feel like…"

"Like we're just going to abandon you completely." Serena finishes of with an understanding nod.

"Y-yeah…I mean…Alex is already all over Abbie all the time. I just feel like that since you have Liv, there's really no reason for you to want to hang out with me anymore. It's okay if you don't Rena, really. You have priorities now and it's okay if I'm not one of them. I just don't want to feel like I'm in the way, you know? I mean, when we went to the movies a few days ago, it was nice to hang out with everyone and anything, but you do realize that you were the only person who actually talked to me? Olivia isn't really all that talkative to begin with because I guess she's just a quiet person, but Alex and Abbie were of course, as usual, too engrossed with each other. Like I said, you were literally the only person that even relatively noticed I was there. Do you know how it feels to have all of your friends pair up with each other and then you're stuck being the odd one out? I feel like right now, you're going to continue to talk to me but soon you're going to start spending more and more time with Liv and then I'm going to be stuck by myself because you guys have all moved on. Pretty soon I'm not going to even matter to you guys anymore."

"Hey, Kim, no, c'mon, you know that's not true. We made a pact when we were little that says we would always stay best friends no matter what, right?"

Kim snorts bitterly and shakes her head. "Yeah, glad to see that Alex is holding up to that real well. I swear, all she focuses on now is Abbie. That's all she ever thinks about, that's all she ever talks about is how she is going to spend time with Abbie, or what she and Abbie plan to do after school and on the weekends, or how amazing Abbie is or the latest sweetest thing that Abbie's done. Then that transfers over to spending time with Abbie all the time or always talking to Abbie. Everything revolves around Abbie in her world. Why is that?"

Serena sighs and shakes her head in disapproval on behalf of their absent best friend. "Because Alex has this disillusion that Abbie is perfect. She thinks Abbie is perfect and she believes that she's in love. Ever since they…did it, Alex has been really clingy to Abbie and to be honest, it's boarder line annoying. Listen, I hear where you're coming from alright? But I promise you that nothing is going to make me abandon you. Best friends before anything else right?"

"Yeah…but that still doesn't mean that you have to cancel your date to slum it here with me…"

"It wasn't even a date Kim. We were all just going to play mini golf and eat pizza and stuff."

"Whose idea was it to invite me?"

"Why does that matter?"

"Just answer the question."

Serena hesitates for a moment before she continued. "It was mine, but I don't even see how that is relevant to anything?"

Kim throws up her hands in exasperation. "See? You were the one who invited me, but no one else objected to me tagging along. If you hadn't invited me, I bet the others wouldn't have even mentioned it. It was intended to be a double date Serena, you just made it weird by inviting me. No one was just going to object it."

"Well it doesn't matter now does it? Because I've already made up my mind to spend Friday night here with you, my best friend. We can watch movies and talk about our feelings and do all the other things girls do. Maybe you could even tell me a little more about this crush on Abbie that you have."

"I don't know what else there is to tell you…"

"Like when did it start? Why do you like her? Do you think she likes you? What would you do if she likes you?"

Rolling her eyes, Kim shakes her head even though a small smile tugs at her lips. "You sound like my sister Carmen." She says before sighing. "I don't know. She came to me and asked me if I could help teach her how to dance so she could surprise Alex at the winter/fall dance coming up. So like I said, I've been helping her with that and we've been dancing together and it's just…it's just one day she looked at me and I felt…something, something that I haven't ever really felt before. She really is a nice person, and contrary to popular belief, she is a huge softie. I don't know Rena, I just…I find myself thinking about her when I shouldn't be and I find myself thinking things about her that I most definitely shouldn't be thinking. She'll tell me I look nice and I find myself blushing like a complete idiot. And it's not even in a flirtatious manner either, she's just making a general comment. I don't know…it's stupid, I know, but I just…I can't help it you know? As for what I would do? I thought we established I wouldn't do anything. Even if she did like me, which I am positive that she does not, I wouldn't do anything like that, that would hurt Alex. Do you know how bad that would me? If Abbie dumped her for me of all people?"

"Disaster." Serena states with a shake of her head. "Well look, you go get us some ice cream and pop corn and tell your parents that I'm staying over while I make a phone call and look for a movie for us to watch. That sound cool?"

"Yeah. Thanks for staying with me Rena. It means a lot."

"What else are best friends for?"

**Meanwhile…**

"So, Serena says that she's not gonna make it because she's having a girls night with Kim." Olivia states as she hangs up her phone.

"Is she serious…" Alex says as she rolls her eyes. "We've been waiting on her for like twenty minutes and then she calls to say that she's not coming to hang out with Kim?"

"Kim was supposed to come too you know." Olivia responds with a curious raise of her eyebrow, wondering where Alex's sudden attitude.

"Yeah, because Serena invited her, which why she did that was clearly beyond me." Alex answers as her brow furrows. "Clearly this was supposed to be a double date but obviously Serena doesn't know anything about that."

"You're the one that wanted to make it that." Abbie speaks up, grabbing her girlfriend's attention. "We just wanted it to be a group of friends hanging out but you turned it into this whole double date thing by not even inviting your own best friend. Maybe you should go and join them for their girls night. It would give you some time to spend with your best friends."

Alex pouts and presses her self up against her girlfriend. "But I wanna spend time with you." she nearly whines which causes Olivia to roll her eyes.

Abbie takes both of Alex's hands and puts the pouting blonde at arms length. "We spend time together all the time Baby, maybe you should go hang out with your friends? I mean think about it. You're always with me and you're never with them. You didn't even think to invite Kim to hang out with us tonight. Go hang out with your friends Al."

"Ugh, seriously Abbie? Are you trying to say that you just don't want to spend time with me right now? I want to be with you right now, not them. Why don't you get that?"

"Whoa, check your attitude alright? You need to calm down. And when did you get so mean all of a sudden? They're your friends Alex and they need you. You spend practically every ounce of your free time with me. I think some of that free time belongs with them."

Alex folds her arms tightly across her chest and rolls her eyes. "Fine, whatever. I'll go hang out with them. It's whatever."

"Alex, come on, seriously?" Abbie states contemplating following after her upset girlfriend. "Seriously!? Dude, why is she being like that?"

Liv shrugs and shoves her hands in her pockets. "Man, I don't know, but you need to get your girl to straighten up. I don't know what Alex's deal has been lately, but she's been extra clingy. Like, no joke."

"You've noticed it too? I don't even know what her problem is. I mean, at first she thought I was cheating on her and now she's always clinging to me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love her, but I need some space too, you know?"

"Damn straight. Do you know what coach will do to you if she finds out that you've been off your game lately cause of your girlfriend? Our first game is next week and varsity cheer is cheering. You gonna be able to focus on the game or are you gonna be too busy staring at your girl on the side lines?"

"Hey, shut up, alright? I may have a girl, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to focus."

"Out of fifty three point shots at practice, how many did you make this time last season?" Olivia asks with a raise of her eyebrows.

Abbie thinks for a moment before she shrugs. "Forty eight."

"You made twenty yesterday at practice…"

"…damn I'm screwed."

**Hmmm, leave your thoughts? **


	11. Chapter 11

**A**/**N: oooo two bombshells in one chapter, what have I done, lol enjoy ;)**

"Come on Casey, how could you not like the zoo?! This place is amazing!" JJ exclaims as she is practically glowing with utter amazement and enthusiasm.

Casey can't help but roll her eyes as she defiantly shoves her hands into her pockets. "It's the zoo, with a buncha animals…What's so great about coming to look at a buncha animals that just sit and do nothing?"

JJ pouts slightly before she sighs dramatically. "But Casey! They're cute! Look at them!" she exclaims as she points towards a few giraffes who are grazing in the grassy exhibit. The giraffes wiggle their ears before the extend their long necks to pick food off of their respectable tree. She coos and 'aws' when there is a baby giraffe who looks to be just learning how to walk. "See? What is it that you think of when you see these giraffes?"

"…I think that they're weird cause they're necks are too long and they keep sticking their tongues out like this." Casey says before she demonstrates by scrunching up her face and sticking out her tongue which in turn causes the other girl to laugh.

"Why did I find that extremely adorable?" JJ questions humorously before she shakes her head. "But come on, how can you not find them cute? What's your favorite animal? You do have one, don't you?"

"I don't know. I kinda really like the white tigers. Not the regular ones though. I like the white tigers because they're different and they aren't ashamed that they're different. Even though they're different, they can prove to be just as good, if not better than the regular looking tigers. It's like….they're different but they're still proud of who they are, ya know?"

"Yeah, I totally get it. Um, if you don't mind me asking, does that have a little deeper meaning than just the concept of the white tiger or…?"

Casey sighs quietly before she shoves her hands back into her pockets and stares down at the floor. "I-I don't know….I mean…you know me and Abbie don't get along at all right? Like, not even in the slightest? I just feel like she's always flaunting how much better she is at everything, and it pisses me off. It's like, she's good at everything and she flaunts it and doesn't even care. I like being different from that but at the same time I hate that she struts around thinking she is god's gift to everything."

JJ nods her head in comprehension. "I get what you're saying. Some people think that I'm weird because I like to notice things that normal people don't and I kind of have this really weird 'gift' that my grandma likes to call it. I can…I'm very observant and it's borderline over observant. I can walk straight through a room full of people and then come back and tell you exactly what they had on, how they were sitting and the number of times they blinked before I left the room. Because of that, people think I'm weird or 'stalkish' or stuff like that. But I'm not, I just like to notice things. I like myself though, so I don't really care what people think of me. If I did care, there would be far too much worry in my future for that."

"I guess I see what you're saying. Sorta." Casey replies with a shrug. "Thanks for being able to relate…I guess."

"Anytime." JJ responds sincerely before she grabs a hold of Casey's hand and begins tugging her through the crowd of people. "Now come on! Let's go see the white tigers!"

The two teens quickly make their way over to the white tiger exhibit and JJ immediately presses her self against the glass, peering intensely at the power feline. "Look at them. Isn't it amazing how the only thing separating us from an animal that could maul us to death in a matter of seconds is a three and a half inch peace of glass?"

Casey raises her eyebrows as a nervous chuckle leaves her lips. 'This girl is something else'. "Wow, that's…really an interesting way of putting it Jayje. I mean, I never would've thought of anything like that but…really good observation…I guess."

"No, I'm just saying. Look at them! I wonder what they think whenever they see people like us watching them all day and all night. I wonder how many people they actually wish that they could eat or how many people they have charged at through the glass. Don't you ever wonder these kinds of things?"

"Uh, well, nah…not exactly."

JJ turns away from the glass and shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. "Well I wonder. Then again, I wonder a lot of things. Hey, can I ask you a question? How come you always wear really bagging clothes and stuff? Kinda like…boys clothes for lack of a better term?"

Casey raises her eyebrows and chuckles a little before she looks down at her clothing. "Because I don't wanna wear a skirt or a dress or anything. Skirts and dresses are stupid and for girly girls. Clearly, I am not a girly girl Jennifer."

"No, I'm not saying that you have to walk around in the kind of skirt that Serena Southerlyn walks around in, but I'm just saying, it would be nice if you wore clothes that showed off your figure more. You have a pretty great body you know."

"Um, thanks I guess? But I'm not wearing any skirt or anything."

"For the last time, you don't need to wear a skirt, but at least let me take you shopping? So we can pick out clothes? I'm not trying to change you or anything and as long as you're happy, that's what matters, but I just wanna see what you'd really look like okay? Instead of you hiding behind a hoodie and baggy jeans."

Casey shrugs her shoulders and puts her hands pack into the pockets of said hoodie. "Fine, it's whatever. Whatever you wanna do is cool with me…I hope."

As the two teenagers are leaving the zoo, JJ does something completely and utterly spontaneous. She drops her nearly finished ice cream cone into a near by trashcan and she steps over to where she is standing directly in front of Casey. A small, yet nervous smile tugs at her features before she leans in and kisses the redhead smack dab on the lips.

Casey's eyes widen and in the event of being taken completely off guard, she doesn't exactly respond to the soft and gentle kiss, though, at the very same time, she doesn't exactly pull away either.

JJ is the first one to break the kiss and she pulls away with an even more nervous look on her face. "I-I um…I'm sorry…I don't know why I did that…I just…was that not okay?"

Casey's mind finally catches up with her as she quickly shakes her head and tries to get words to come out of her mouth. "I…no…I, it was okay. You just…surprised me that's all. I guess I just…wasn't ready."

"Oh…I'm sorry…"

"No, don't be. Here, um, we can…" Casey trails off as she moves closer to the blonde, her fingers slightly grazing her cheek. She holds them for a moment before she moves that last little bit of distance and presses their lips firmly but gently together. The kiss is chaste and it's honestly not any kiss that Casey has experienced before. All of the kisses she's shared with any girl have been fast, hungry, and they both have one desire and that is to get each other's clothes off. But not this kiss. This kiss is different. This kiss makes Casey feel like there are little caterpillars crawling around in her stomach; something that she only feels when she's around Alex. But this isn't Alex, so why does it feel this way?

When the need for air becomes too great, the two girls break apart and Casey rests her forehead against JJ's. "Was that…was that better?" she says quietly as she stares into the blondes icy, crystal blue eyes.

JJ shakily nods her head and clicks her lip as her voice comes out as slightly hoarse. "M-much…that was…that was much better."

"We can…we can try again if you want? Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke or anything…"

"I think I would like that."

* * *

"Alex, this is really great and all but there are four tickets here." Serena states as she once again shifts through the four thin strips of paper.

Alex raises an eyebrow before she slowly nods her head. "Uh huh, I'm sure that I know how to count Rena." She says slowly before she continues on. "Two for me and Abbie and then two for you and Liv. What's the problem?"

Serena shakes head before she holds up the tickets. "Well yeah, but what about Kim?"

"Does she even want to go?"

"Does she even want to-Alex this is her favorite musical, you know that. You've known that forever! Plus she does ballet and dance. Why wouldn't she want to go?"

Alex rolls her eyes and folds her arms. "Seriously Serena? What is the point of a double date if there's going to be another person there? We can't do this if Kim tags along every time Serena!"

"But she's our best friend Alex and she feels left out!" Serena exclaims as she throws up her arms in frustration. "It's like you're intentionally leaving her out of things and it's beginning to show. She feels excluded from a group that shouldn't technically even exist. It's not fair to her Alex and she has been nothing but nice about. She hasn't show how left out she feels but even if she did show it you wouldn't even notice it anyway. You're too wrapped up in Abbie to even notice anything that's going on around you, unless it's something you WANT to notice. I swear Alex, it's like I don't even know you anymore. You've become a totally different person now. Ever since you let Abbie swipe your V-Card you've been acting really different, and frankly I don't like it. None if us do. I don't even think Abbie does."

Alex's mouth falls open at Serena's comment. "Oh don't even. So it's suddenly a crime for wanting to spend time with your girlfriend? What the hell."

"I didn't say that; it's just...all the time!? Alex answer me this, how much basketball practice has Abbie missed to spend time with you?"

"That's not even fair Serena! For the past several months basketball is all she's been focused on and she spent zero time with me. She need to make that up now. And since when did you start caring about basketball anyway?"

"Since our state championship winning basketball is going to start losing because you're screwing around with the star player! She doesn't focus anymore Al and it's cause she doesn't go to practice and THAT'S cause she's always with you! Give the girl some space Alex, damn!"

"If this was really a problem, then Abbie would come to me and tell me her self. Which means that I am in no way obligated to listen to anything that you say right now."

"Wow you're being a real jerk right now." Serena states in awe before she shakes her head. "I mean seriously, you've changed a lot and I don't know what's going on with you but I do know that I really don't like it."

Alex rolls her eyes and folds her arms tightly across her chest. "If this about the stupid musical then fine, I'll get another ticket so Kim can go. It really doesn't even matter anymore now. Whatever."

"Alex I swear, if we lose this first basketball game, you better be prepared for some fireworks."

Meanwhile...

"Kim, are you listening?" Abbie questions cautiously as she waves her hand in front of the shorter girls face.

Kim blinks back into reality and her shoulders slump a little. "No, I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

Abbie chuckles and slightly tilts her head. "I was asking you if you were gonna actually drink your water or if you were just going to stand there with it and stare into space with it."

"Oh, ah, sorry. I guess I just got lost in thought."

"Do you wanna continue or...cuz we can stop if you want."

Kim shakes her head as she squeezes her eyes shut. "Yeah, we can continue. I'm sorry, I'll be more focused." She sighs as they return back to their dancing position.

"Are you sure you're alright? You sous hoarse." Abbie asks concernedly with a tilt of her head.

"No, yeah. I'm fine. I just...I don't know." Kim trails off in a mumble.

As one of the songs comes to an end, Kim intends to open her mouth to make a comment but instead she finds her self quickly moving forward and pressing her lips against the taller girl's.

Abbie's eyes widen and she immediately shoves Kim away from her, holding the dancer at arms length. "Kim what, what the fuck!?" She exclaims as she takes several steps back.

Kim immediately puts her hand over her mouth. "Oh my god Abbie, I am so so sorry. I didn't mean to, I just...god I'm so sorry!"

"Kim no, I-we're friends right? Christ, I'm dating your best friend!"

"I know! I'm sorry, I just, I like you and I tried to forget about it but-but god I'm really sorry!"

"You like me!? Jesus Kim, no. I like you because we're friends but I, I don't like you like that..."

Tears spill over Kim's eyes uncontrollably at this point. "I-I know that's why I-I...god I'm sorry...I'm so sorry." She squeaks before breaks down, sobbing as she runs towards the restroom of the studio.

Abbie attempts to go after her but freezes when she sees Carmen Greylek enter the room with a hard expression on her face. She glances in the direction of her sobbing sister because she turns we gaze on Abbie.

"What did you do."

**Lol, I told you guys! Double bombshell, and don't worry, jerk Alex will get her time. It's coming. we all have those one events that change us for the better and sometimes the worse even. So her time is coming. And just to state this now, Abbie won't be getting with Kim. At least, not right now ;) maybe...anyhow, leave your thoughts?**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: this chapter made me cry...I felt the need to add this in herefor future references when we get to our adult stage :) enjoy **

**guest: yes this will be AC end game**

Abbie swallows thickly and feels totally inferring under the older woman's hard gaze. "I-I didn't make her cry on purpose, I swear I didn't. We were just dancing and then she k-kissed me and I didn't know what else. I'm sorry."

Carmen snorts humorlessly before she shakes her head and folds her arms tightly. "Clearly I am most definitely not the person that you need to be apologizing to."

"I-I know, I just…I didn't mean to make her cry, honest. It's just…I didn't know she liked me like that and when she kissed me I kind of freaked out because I have a girlfriend who I am completely loyal to."

"Who's your girlfriend?"

"Uh, Alex Cabot."

Carmen makes a noise of what can most likely be identified as amusement. "Oh, I get it. But that still doesn't mean that you get to come here and lead my sister on like that and then make her cry."

Abbie's eyes widen before her face contorts into a frown. "Whoa, hold on. I was in no way leading her on. I came here as a friend seeking help from another friend on something in regards to my girlfriend. I had absolutely no idea that Kim even had the slightest of feelings for me…if I had known that…"

"You wouldn't have come back."

"I didn't say that."

"It was implied."

"You're putting words into my mouth."

"Am I?"

Sighing, Abbie drags her hands through her hair before she folds her arms tightly. "Look, I realize that you probably want to kill me right now because your little sister is upset, but please realize that this isn't exactly my fault. She kissed me, I didn't kiss her."

"Did you want to?" Carmen asks curiously with a raise of both her eyebrows.

"Did I want to? No! Absolutely not! I have a girlfriend remember? And my girlfriend is also Kim's best friend. I don't know what you're impression of me is but I'm not a player or anything like that." Abbie exclaims before she heaves another heavy sigh. "I'm going to have to tell my girlfriend about this now too, which is only going to add to the shit storm mood she's been in lately. Look, I'm just gonna go right now alright? You can talk to your sister or do whatever because I feel like I'm only going to making things worse since she's already crying. Tell her I'm sorry."

Carmen shakes her head as she watches the teen give her one last apologetic look before leaving. She snaps her head towards the restroom and raises her eyebrows where she sees her distraught sister emerging.

"Is she gone?" Kim asks as she rubs at her now red eyes and attempts to keep her sniffling to a minimum.

"Yeah sweetie, she's gone." Carmen replies, her tone and gaze soften for the first time since Abbie left. "Are you alright?"

Kim stands completely still for a moment before she shakes her head and starts sobbing once again. "N-no." she sobs out as she becomes vaguely aware that she's being wrapped into her sister's arms. "I-I don't know what to do Car. I didn't mean to kiss her…I wasn't supposed to kiss her and I really don't know why I did, but now I'm not going to have any friends anymore after this."

"Lightening bug, I don't think that you're going to lose all of your friends because of this mistake."

"Yes I am! They're already all paired off with out me as it is. They've been leaving me out of stuff and everything and that was without even thinking that I've done something. Abbie's going to tell Alex what happened and Alex will make sure that I don't hang out with them anymore. She's going to hate me. She hates anyone who even looks at Abbie with 'wandering eyes' imagine what she's going to do when she finds out about this?"

Carmen clicks her tongue and shakes her head in disapproval. "I don't know what to tell you Kim except to do whatever it is your heart wants you to do."

Kim shakes her head and buries her face into the fabric of her sister's shirt. "I don't know Car, I really don't know."

Carmen waits for a moment before she pulls away from her sister and tugs on her arm. "Come on, we're going for a ride. There's something that you should do and I know it'll make you feel better in the long run."

"Where are we going?"

"Come on, just trust me."

The drive to wherever Carmen is taking her is a complete blur Kim as she sits in the passenger seat and stares blankly and absentmindedly out the front windshield. She vaguely feels the car come to a stop and she glances out her window to see where they are. "Oh my god, Carmen, no…" she whispers as she immediately recognizes the cemetery.

Carmen takes the keys out of the ignition and turns to Kim with a somber look on her face. "Kim, I know it's hard for you, and sometimes, it's still hard for me, but I honestly think that it would help you. If it doesn't, then I won't bring you back again, but you haven't come at all. Ever."

"I'm scared…" Kim murmurs quietly as she undoes her seatbelt and gets out of the car. "Will you walk me there?"

Nodding her head, Carmen gets out of the car and walks arm and arm with Kim amongst the rows of tombstones. She feels Kim's grip on her hand gradually tighten as if she can feel that they are nearing a particular tombstone.

Kim's heart leaps into her throat and when she sees it it's almost as if it is and is not real all at the same time. 'Kristen A. Greylek' is chiseled finely into the granite of the headstone. "Carmen, I-I don't know if I can do this."

"I'm not going to force you, but I personally think that it'd help." Carmen replies quietly before she begins to step away. "I'll give you some privacy."

Kim swallows thickly, her heart hammering away in her chest as she continues to stare at the grave of her deceased oldest sibling. She slowly gets down on her knees and rests her hands in her lap as she tries to figure out what it is she wants to say. "Um, hey…I guess I never really thought that I would find my self sitting here like this…" she begins, swallowing the lump in her throat once again. "I-I hope you don't hate me or anything for not coming to see you any sooner."

"Kimmy, you know that I could never hate you."

Kim's head snaps towards the direction of the voice, and her eyes widen when she sees a familiar figure standing a couple of rows away from her. "K-Kristen?" she stutters out, her eyes gradually glued to the now approaching figure that is becoming recognizable. Her nearly platinum blonde hair falls pin straight and perfectly down her shoulders while she is dressed in a form fitting white blouse, hoodie, and figure hugging white jeans with white ballet flats. All in all she looks angelic and Kim could swear that she has a certain sparkle to her.

"In the…well, I guess I shouldn't say flesh now should I?" Kristen says, humoring her as she chuckles a little.

"How…how are you…am I hallucinating? Are you a ghost?"

"The term 'ghost' is used so loosely these days. To be honest, I don't know exactly what I am, but I know that I can see you, and you can see me. Isn't that what really matters?"

Kim stares at her deceased sister blankly before she blinks out of her trance and shakes her head. "I-I thought you'd be mad at me…because I wouldn't come…"

"Kim, I told you that I would never ever hate you for anything. No matter how much of an annoying brat you were. But I can tell that you need me. What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"

"Me, pretty, yeah right." Kim snorts sarcastically before she deflates. "There's this girl at school that I like. Well, actually she's Alex's girlfriend. I…um…I've started to really like her…like…a lot and well, early today I wasn't thinking and I kissed her. Now I think that she's upset with me and I'm afraid that I'm going to lose all my friends now because Alex is going to be upset with me. I just…I've never really liked anyone before you know? I didn't have crushes and people have never had crushes on me…I guess that last part hasn't really changed now huh?"

Kristen tilts her head to the side and shakes her head as she strides through her younger sister and spins around in a child like fashion. "You're very pretty, don't let anyone else make you think other wise. I guess Carmen made you come here huh? She comes here a lot though; to vent, to argue, sometimes just to chat you know?"

"I really miss you Kristen…" Kim says quietly as she casts her gaze down to the ground beneath her feet. "I remember that night like it was literally yesterday. We were all sitting at home watching one of those stupid family Christmas movies. Carmen and I weren't even the slightest bit of interested in that movie but Mom wanted us to watch it anyway. She said it would get us into the holiday spirit. Caroline was so engrossed into the movie that she felt the need to talk ever five seconds. Keenan and Caleb were the only ones not there because they were out at some stupid Christmas party they probably weren't even supposed to be at. The movie cut to commercial…it was a commercial for Dawn dish washing liquid and Caroline started making a big deal about how the duck was covered in oil or something like that. Right in the middle of the commercial, the phone rang and Mom went to answer it. Everything happened in slow motion after that. I saw her expression change as the other person was talking on the other line. I saw her face change and in slow motion, she dropped the phone and collapsed towards the floor. She might've fallen badly if Dad hadn't been so quick to catch her. She kept saying over and over again 'my baby, my baby's gone' until she finally broke down. When Dad sat us down and told us what happened I…I didn't cry…I couldn't cry because I didn't believe him. I though that it was just a joke that our brothers were playing and that it wasn't really. Carmen tried to make me realize but I-I just couldn't believe it. It wasn't happening. Caroline wouldn't stop crying when Dad explained that you weren't going to be coming home anymore. He told her that the angels took you to live with them, but I didn't believe that. Angels were supposed to be good right? So why would they take you away from us? At your funeral, when I saw you lying there I guess…I guess I realized that you really weren't coming home and for that…I was angry at you. I was angry that it was you that went and got in that accident and you were leaving me behind…after that I…I couldn't bring myself to come here because I thought it would hurt to much."

Kristen wears a facial expression that shows how much she wishes that she could wipe her sister's tears. She folds her arms and tilts her head once more. "Two seconds after that accident, I knew that I was going to die. I was hanging there, in my over turned car as the rain poured down heavily and I knew I was going to die; I could feel it. It was so cold, but I knew that it wasn't from the temperature. There was liquid pouring down my face, but I knew that it wasn't the rain. I could faintly see the dark red mixing with the puddle of water that bad been forming. As I hung there, knowing I was going to die, I couldn't help but wish that I had seen you all before hand. Part of me wished that I would still be able to say goodbye one last time, but in reality, I knew I wasn't going to make it. It was never my intention to leave…I didn't want to, but I knew then that my time had come."

"I wish you were here…so you could help me." Kim mutters, a slight blush creeping to her cheeks.

Kristen smiles and extends her hand to where her sister's heart is. Kim eyes the slightly transparent blonde with curiosity and fills an intense shiver when Kristen lays her hand over her heart. "You're in love Kimberly." The older woman says with a smile playing at her ruby lips.

"I-it's not love Kristen it's just…it's just a crush."

"You can't lie to me remember? I know that it's not just a crush. This may not be what you want to here, but what you have to do is follow your heart. Whatever your heart tells you, that's the way to go. Even in death, I don't have all the answers sweetie."

Kim nods her head sadly before she looks up at her sister. "Will you stay with me?"

Sighing, Kristen folds her arms and shakes her head. "I wish I could sweetie, really I do. But you and I both know that I can't. I'll always be here when you need me though. For whatever you need, don't hesitate to come and talk. I'm really proud of you and I love you, don't forget okay?"

"I love you too." Kim murmurs before she moves towards her sisters open arms. She feels another cold chill, and when she opens her eyes, she realizes that she's standing alone once again. She shoves her hands in her pockets and looks around, smiling slightly when she sees her other sister waiting for her. "She says she's proud of me…""

"She does have a way of finding her way into your heart still doesn't she?" Carmen says as she extends her hand. "C'mon, lemme take you home."

* * *

"Hey Alex."

Alex spins around from the bookshelf she's browsing through and raises her eyebrows in confusion when she realized that it's none other than Casey Novak. "Uh hey," she replies eyeing the redhead up and down, noticing her change in clothing and appearance. "You look different."

Casey nervously rubs her arm and tilts her head. "Um...is that good or bad or...?"

"Depends how you wish to take it. Wait, you called me Alex, why did you call me Alex?"

"Because that's you're name...? Or would you prefer that I called you Alexandra? I didn't think you would seeing as my name is Cassandra but I hate it when people call me that so I just assumed that you didn't really like your name either."

Alex shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "That's not what I meant. You called me by my name. You always call me Princess or Sexy or anything else your provocative mind could come up with at the time."

Casey shrugs as she kicks at imaginary dirt on the floor. "I was trying something different."

"Ooookay. Anyway, what are you doing here? The last I checked, you hated libraries let alone public ones."

"I needed to get out of the house and I figured this would be a good place to study."

"Study?" Alex repeats with shock evident in her voice. "Since when do you study?"

Casey shrugs again at the question. "I wanna pass..." She mumbles before a smile appears on her face. "I have an 76 in trigonometry right now. It might not be the highest grade but I'm finally passing."

"And that's what counts." Alex mutters as she turns back towards the bookshelf. "Why're you here? What do you want?"

"Just to talk. We never really talk."

"Because you're a jerk. Why would I want to talk to someone whose fucked over half of the female study body?"

"You've never really given me a chance."

"What have you done that has proven you deserve one?" Alex retorts quickly.

At this Casey realizes she doesn't really have much of an answer to the otherwise rhetorical question. "I guess you're right..."

"I know I'm right." Alex mutters before her eyes narrow. "What's going on with you and JJ? You two have been seen together a lot lately."

"I don't really know. We're friends yeah but I guess it's a little more intimate than normal friendships? We kiss and stuff but it's not like we're dating."

"So she's not your girlfriend?"

"Not really."

Alex snorts and shakes her head. "Typical. Just typical. Look don't fuck her up alright? She's too nice to be dealing with all of your mess and drama."

"I won't." Casey replies before she bites down on her lip. "So...um would you maybe like to grab a table and we could maybe study together?"

"I'm actually supposed to meeting my girlfriend here for our study date."

"We could all study? It doesn't have to be just two people..."

Alex opens her mouth to respond but she finds her voice soon overpowered by said girlfriend in which she had just spoken of.

"It does when it's the three of us involved." Abbie states, slipping her arm around Alex's waist. "What're you doing here Novak."

"I was looking for a book when I saw Alex and I thought I'd say hi." Casey answers as she puts up her hands. "I don't want any trouble."

"Good, me either so get lost."  
Abbie sneers, glaring hard at the redhead. "Are you deaf too? Get out of here!"

Casey steps back and shoves her hands in her pockets before she turns and walks off.

Alex stares after her before she turns towards her girlfriend. "That was a little much don't you think? Granted I don't enjoy her presence but she was t really bothering me.

"Whatever." Abbie grumbles, her heart sinking when she recalls what she still needs to tell Alex. "Al, I...I need to tell you something."

Nodding her head, Alex takes both of Abbie's hands and stares into her eyes expectantly. "What's up?"

Abbie hesitates for the longest of moments before she realizes she can't do it. "Ah, nothing...you're just beautiful." She says before she leans in and kisses the blonde on the cheek.

_"I'll tell her after the game..."_

**The first part of this chapter was weird but you can't have Halloween without a ghost! Lol happy Halloween! Leave your thoughts!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Ahhh this lovely chapter here marks the start of our turning point. Anxious? I think so! Lol, I hope you guys enjoy!**

"Abbie…Abbie…Abbie!"

Abbie startles awake at the feeling of someone roughly shoving her shoulder. She slowly opens her eyes and she realizes that she's sitting in her physics class, supposed to be taking a test. Rubbing her eyes, she tries to force her mind back into the test that she has barely even started and she has roughly ten minutes to finish.

After the end of the class, Abbie sluggishly gathers her things together and makes her way out into the hall narrowly avoiding being swept away by the oncoming rush of students trying to get home or wherever their after school destinations are.

"Dude, what's going on with you today? I have like four classes with you and you've practically slept all through all of them. Even in basketball you were moving like you've been drugged." Olivia states before her eyes widen. "Oh my god, you haven't been doing drugs have you?"

Abbie frowns and shakes her head before she moves her mouth up to cover a yawn. "No, I'm not doing drugs! Jesus. I was out with Alex last night and I really didn't get much sleep."

"How much sleep DID you get?"

"Maybe like two hours tops."

"Abbie?! Are you serious!? We have a game tonight and we can't have you moving around like you belong in the walking dead. Oh man, you better get your act together fast or the team is gonna be on your ass."

Abbie scowls at her best friend as they continue walking down the hall. "I'll be fine okay?"

Olivia raises her eyebrows and folds her arms tightly as she shakes her head. "Look at you! You're exhausted. I bet you fell asleep in literally all of your classes. This is ridiculous Abbie. For the last week and a half your focus has been completely out the window and when you sum it all up, it all leads back to Alex. Do you realize how much of your game you've lost?"

Becoming frustrated, Abbie sends her best friend a hard glare which causes the shorter girl to step back a little. "I'll be fine tonight, you just worry about doing your job and I'll worry about mine." She says tightly before walking off.

In truth, Abbie is highly upset that she didn't get the amount of sleep that she so desperately needed the night before. She knows that she shouldn't have stayed up with Alex so late, but at the same time, Alex knew fairly well that they had their first game the following day. Sometimes having a girlfriend is easy and other times it can be overly complicated. This is most definitely one of those overly complicated times.

**The Game **

Olivia continues to shoot their warm-up shots on the court before the official start of the game. She glances around and is really thoroughly surprised at the numbers of people that have actually showed up to the game; both their side and the opposing side alike. She grabs another ball, dribbles it and prepares to shoot when she feels one of her teammates tap her on the shoulder.

"Hey Liv, where's Abbie? The game starts in like fifteen minutes."

Olivia turns towards her teammate Natalie with a small frown on her face. "What? You mean she's not here?"

"Do you see her out here with the rest of us?"

This time Liv actually takes time to look around the court and she swears when she doesn't see her best friend anywhere in sight. "Are you fucking kidding me." she mumbles as she jogs off the court over to her stuff. She picks up her cell phone to cal Abbie but isn't the slightest bit surprised when the call goes straight to voicemail. Glancing around once again, she sees their very angry coach headed her way and she wishes that she could just vanish into thin air at the moment.

"Benson!" the tall red haired woman shouts as she approaches the rather frightened looking teen. "Where's Carmichael?"

"Uh, to be honest Coach I really have no idea where she is. She was supposed to be here, but I don't know where she is…"

"This game starts in roughly ten minutes and my star player is not here!" the coach shouts, probably waking England with her anger. "You have ten minutes to go find her."

"Yes Coach D." Olivia nods quickly as she has an idea. She jumps down from the bleachers and jogs over to where the cheerleaders are doing a warm up of their own. She pulls Serena to the side and gives her a look of worry. "Do you know where Alex is?"

Serena thinks for a moment before she shakes her head. "I was just wondering the same thing, myself. Why?"

"Because Abbie just so happens to be missing as well and something tells me if we find Alex, we'll find Abbie."

Meanwhile, Abbie has Alex pressed tightly against the brick wall right behind the gym, kissing her feverishly. One of her hands grips the blonde's waist tightly while the other travels southwards and pulls their bodies closer together.

Alex wraps her arms tighter around Abbie's neck as she arches into her girlfriend, silently beckoning to be touched more. The bliss moment is interrupted by the shrill ringing of Alex's cell phone, much to the blonde's dissatisfaction.

Abbie pulls away breathlessly as she rests her forehead against her girlfriend's. "You gonna answer that?" she pants as her heart rate continues to race. "That's probably our queue that we should be getting back."

"We still have a few minutes." Alex replies as she ignores her cell phone. "Besides, seeing you in this uniform turns me on sooooo much right now. You're so hot, and sexy, a strong, and it makes me want to have you all to myself right now."

Abbie opens her mouth to respond in protest but soon finds her self pulled into another heated kiss that she is unable to turn away from. After an internal battle, Abbie forces her self to break the kiss once again. "I know Baby, but not right now okay? I really have to go."

"Noooo, stay with me."

"Alex I can't, I have to warm up."

"Please?" Alex says innocently as she sticks out her lower lip and puts on her best pout.

Abbie sighs heavily and places another kiss to her girlfriend's lips. "Why does that look always work? Only a few more minutes okay?"

Alex smiles in satisfaction at getting her way before she pulls the taller brunette down into another heated lip lock. Their kiss is once again broken, however, this time seems much more forcefully than the last. Alex opens her eyes just in time to see what looks like Olivia, dragging her girlfriend away from her and towards the direction of the gym. "Seriously?!"

"Ow, Liv, jeez, what the fuck!" Abbie exclaims as Olivia practically drags her into the gym and tosses a basketball in her hands. "Clearly I was busy…"

"Yeah, doing the wrong thing." Liv responds before she gets in her best friend's face and starts speaking in a deadly whisper. "I don't know what's going on with your right now, but you seriously need to step up and get it together. Coach D has been on everyone's ass looking for you so you better come ready tonight because if we lose this game because of you there are going to be a lot of unhappy people here…and I'm going to be one of them."

Abbie's grip hardens on the ball as Olivia steps back with folded arms, obviously waiting for her to start warming up. They hold gazes for another moment before Abbie frowns and starts warming up, trying to clear her head of all of the things that are floating around inside of it.

The ball falters from her hands when she glances in a specific direction and finds Kim staring at her. She notices the cheerleader immediately look away as a blush begins to form at her cheeks. Abbie takes a deep breath and shakes her head as she goes to pick up her basketball. This thing has been eating way at her for she doesn't know how many days now and she can't help but wonder if she's a bad girlfriend or not for not immediately telling Alex what happened. Obviously Alex doesn't know, because if she did, there is no way she would be in the mood that she's been in lately.

Alex saunters into the gym, obviously not in any kind of hurry as she walks over to the bleachers and sits amongst her squad mates, immediately feeling the heated gaze of two of them in particular.

"Where were you?" Serena speaks up first as she gets her best friend's attention.

"We called you at least twenty times." JJ adds in quickly.

Alex rolls her eyes at the both of them and shrugs her shoulders as she pulls out her make up bad and immediately begins reapplying her lipstick. "Where I was is not of any of your concern. I'm here now, isn't that what matters?" she replies, blotting a little before she closes her mirror and drops her supplies back into her bag. She glances over at Kim who just so happens to be sitting at the farthest end of the bleachers, secluded from everyone else. "What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know, why don't you ASK her." Serena replies with a biting tone as she stands up and goes to join the other girls.

Alex rolls her eyes once again and instead of going to check on the quiet girl at the end of the bleachers, she opts to talk to JJ instead. "So what's the deal with you and Novak anyway?"

JJ is taken aback by the question, though her facial expression shows more of embarrassment than offense. "What's it matter to you?" she mutters as she nervously begins picking at her fingernails.

"A girl can be curious can't she?" Alex replies as a smile plays at her lips. "She doesn't get close like that to just anyone you know. Unless, you know, she's trying to get into their pants. So what's it like with her and everything?"

"It's…it's nice…she's really sweet to me and we kiss and she'll hold my hand…"

"But she hasn't asked you to be her girlfriend or anything?"

"Well, um, no…not exactly."

"Interesting." Alex hums as she begins to exam her finger nails.

JJ cocks an eyebrow in suspicion and tilts her head. "W-what's interesting?"

Alex shrugs nonchalantly as she continues to look at her perfect manicure. "Nothing really. I just find it interesting that the two of you do all of that and she still considers you a friend. If I were you I'd be upset."

"Well I'm not…"

"Suits yourself."

As the game starts and begins to progress, Abbie finds her self thoroughly worn out. There have been several times where her body has practically begged her to stop so she could take a breather but she unfortunately has to push her self to keep going. She dribbles the ball protectively as she not only tries to focus on the tall blonde girl who is guarding her, but also on any of her teammates who might be open at the moment. Before her mind can formulate any kind of plan, the other player swipes the ball from her and leaves her looking rather foolish.

"What the fuck is she doing…" Alex mutters shaking her head. "Abbie seriously!?" she shouts rather loudly over the roar of the large crowd.

Just as Abbie is about to shoot the ball, she hears Alex shouting at her and she flinches which causes her shot to bounce pitifully off the rim and results in the other team's rebound. Sighing heavily, the brunette shakes her head and once again pushes her self to sprint down to the other end of the court.

The game drags for Abbie and she has never been happier to hear the buzzer signaling the start of half time. She slinks over to the huddle that her coach is called and awaits the ass chewing that she knows that she's going to receive.

"I honestly do not know what to say about what I just saw happen on that court in the first half of this game." The coach begins with frustration evident in her tone and on her face. "Where are all of your heads?! Never in my years of coaching have I ever seen a group of girls play like that! We are a TEAM. If one or two of us isn't doing their job, then NONE of us will succeed. We need to function like a well oiled machine and clearly right now that is not the case. It is only the end of the second quarter and we are down by twenty five points. Would ANY of you care to explain what's going on out on the court?"

Even though Abbie has her attention locked on her shoes, she doesn't need to look up to know that the entire team is staring at her. She has missed more shots and made more mistakes in this single game than she ever has in the total number of years that she's actually been playing basketball."

"Here's what we're going to do." the coach continues on as she waits until she has every girl's attention. "Carmichael, you're sitting out from here on, got it? You're not going back in there unless I absolutely need you to because tonight, your head isn't on straight."

Abbie shamefully nods her head and tunes out the rest of the coach's spiel. She has never been benched in a game before, and to be honest, it really is one of the worst, shameful feelings in the world. Then she slumps over to the bench where she pulls her warm up suit over her uniform before she flops down in disappointment. She drops her head into her hands and refuses to meet the gazes of her teammates who are obviously disappointed in her.

After a few moments of wallowing own self pity, Abbie feels a tap on her shoulder and she looks up to see a very unhappy girlfriend staring down at her; something that she is most definitely not in the mood for right now.

"What the hell was that?" Alex nearly shouts, drawing the attention of a few passerbies.

"Alex, I'm really not in the mood for this right now." Abbie mumbles as she runs a hand through her hair.

"Not in the mood!? Look at you! You're here sulking sitting on the bench Abigail! What the hell is going on with you?"

"Alex seriously, we don't need to do this now. Not here, not in front of everyone." Abbie tries to rationalize as she is already embarrassed enough at the fact that she's been benched, but she doesn't need to humiliation of being degraded by her girlfriend to add to her place.

Alex rolls her eyes before she spins on her heel, no doubt intent on finish the conversation later leaving a very exhausted and frustrated Abbie in her wake.

* * *

It's fairly late by the time Abbie slumps through her front door. The drive to Alex's house to take the blonde home was one of the most awkward drives she's ever made. There is no doubt that Alex is utterly disappointed in her, but who could blame her? Abbie knows that Alex is just one of several people who are disappointed in her, and she is just about to walk into a couple of those 'several people'.

Abbie makes her way into the kitchen where she sees her parents waiting for her. Her mother, Julie, has a very perplexed look on her face while her father, Mark, is not ashamed to let his anger show at this point.

"Your father and I would like a word…" Julie speaks up quietly, trying to be the leeway point between her exhausted daughter and her angry husband.

Abbie nods her head and takes a seat at the kitchen table as she tries her hardest not to look at her parents. It's one thing to have your friends disappointed in you, but it's completely different to have your parents disappointed in you.

"The way that you played tonight was completely inexcusable." Mark states with a dismissive shake of his head. "I have not ever seen such a humiliating display of underperformance from you and to say that I am disappointed in your would be a complete understatement."

"I'm sorry." Abbie says quietly as she continues to stare at the tiled floor of the kitchen.

"It was almost as if you weren't even trying. You have not worked this hard to get where you are just to throw it all away like you did earlier tonight. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry, I just-I just wasn't focused tonight."

Mark purses his lips tightly as his eyes narrow. "That's right Abigail, you weren't focused and you were not focused all because of that girl." He says tightly before continuing on when he sees his daughter open her mouth to protest. "Do not sit there and tell me that it's not because I know fairly well that it is. She has been the root source of all of your distractions Abigail. You are not playing basketball like you are used to playing and even some of your grades are dropping, and it is all because you have been spending more and more time with her and not focusing on what is important."

Abbie drops her gaze to the floor again and her shoulders slump sadly. "She is important to me Dad; I love her."

"Abbie, you are seventeen dear." Julie says softly, her facial expression displaying one of slight sadness rather than anger. "You don't know what love is yet because your mind is still in that adolescent stage."

"Don't try to tell me how I'm feeling!" Abbie exclaims, becoming frustrated with both of her parents. "I know that I love Alex and if neither of you can accept that, then it's your problem."

Mark shakes his head as he folds his arms tightly across his chest. "Abbie, you know that we only want what is best for you. You are overly distracted as of late. Your grades are dropping as well as your game. What are you going to do when it's time for you to go to college? You're a junior I realize that, but that doesn't mean that colleges and scouts aren't looking at you already! If you don't get into school on basketball, you still need your grades Abbie. Hell, even if you DO get into school on basketball, you still need your grades. What are you going to do if neither of them are good enough? What will you do then? Let me tell you something; it is going to be very difficult finding a job without a college education Abbie. Come on, you are way to smart for this."

"I'll try harder okay? There's just so much going on." Abbie tries to explain.

"We know honey. But now, it is time to tell you a decision that your father and I have made that most definitely was not an easy." Julie says softly, glancing at her husband briefly before she continues on.

"I was offered a coaching job down in Oklahoma," Mark states before he continues. "And I've accepted it. Which means that we're moving."

Abbie's world feels like it's been knocked off of it's axes and she stares at her parents with a blank look of shock on her face. "W-we're moving? No, we can't! What about my friends here? What about basketball? What about…what about Alex?"

"It is for the best Abbie." Julie states as she walks over and places a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "There is a really good high school that we have looked at that has an amazing basketball team. Sure, you will have to make new friends but you aren't any stranger to being social."

"Plus it will rid you of your number one distraction." Mark adds in. "Trust us Abigail, we wouldn't make any decisions that we didn't think would benefit the entire family. It really is for the best."

Abbie shakily nods her head as she stands up on wobbly legs. "I-I'm really tired…I think…I think I'll just head to bed." She mumbles quietly as she exits the kitchen, the one thing running through her mind being, how is she going to tell Alex that she's leaving?

**Ahhh, and thus it begins. Leave your thoughts? **


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Ahhh alas, and thus I begin to tilt the fulcrum, lol, hope you enjoy this chapter. **

_ "Al, there's…something that we need to talk about…I'm moving." Abbie says, before she shakes her head and sighs. "No, that's too straight forward…I don't know how I'm going to do this. Okay, I'm going to go up there, I'm going to ask for her, and we're going to talk and hopefully this won't turn out as bad as it is in my head. Alright Carmichael, you can do this." _

_ With that, Abbie gets out of her car and makes her way up the cobblestone pathway to Alex's house. She steps onto the porch and raises a rather shaky finger to the doorbell, letting it linger for a moment before she actually has the courage to press it The bell chimes through the house. _

_ Seconds pass before Rachel is the one who opens the door and her face lights up upon seeing the visitor on the other side. "Abbie!" She exclaims excitedly earning a smile from the older teen. _

_ "Hey Rache. How's it going? How's little league cheer?" Abbie teases. _

_ "Hey, it is NOT little league cheer. I'll be in high school next year. You make me sound like I'm a baby." Rachel replies with a roll of her eyes that resembles that of Alex. "Anyways, what're you doing here? Here to see my sister right?" _

_ Abbie shoves her hands into her pockets and nods her head in response. "Yeah. There's something important I need to talk to her about. She home?" _

_ "Yeah, she's here. Maybe seeing you will put her in a better mood. She's been in one of her moods practically all day. She almost punched me when I asked her if she was on her period or something. Anyway, I'll go get her if you want. I'd ask you to come in, but since you said it's important I thought you might like some privacy away from our parents." _

_ "No, that's fine, I'll just wait out here." 'Just in case she might cry.' _

_ Rachel nods her head and leaves the door cracked a little as she disappears back into the house to get her sister. A few minutes pass by before the eldest Cabot sister returns to the door and her facial expression softens upon seeing her girlfriend. "Hey…" _

_ "Hey you…" Abbie replies as the world's tiniest smile flits across her face. "I was wondering if we could talk…" _

_ "Same…but can I go first?" Alex speaks up quietly, taking a deep breath when Abbie nods for her to continue on. "I'm really sorry about how I treated you the night of the game and even before that. I should have been more considerate of your time and I should have let you focus on your game instead of me. It's my fault that you weren't focused that night, which leads me to, I shouldn't have yelled at you like I did. I shouldn't have gone off on you in front of everyone because you were having a bad night and it was all because of me to begin with. You didn't deserve that and I'm sorry." _

_ Abbie hangs her head and shrugs her shoulders. "To be honest, I wasn't really mad at you. I felt numb last night and nothing was really processing clearly for me. But there is something really important I have to tell you. I-…I love you, okay? There's never been any girl that has caught my attention like you have and you're really special for that but…I'm moving Alex." _

_ All of the color seems to drain from Alex's face and her heart sinks like a thousand pound bag of bricks. "You're…what?" she whispers, not even fully comprehending what's been told. _

_ "I'm moving…My dad got this job offer to coach basketball down in Oklahoma and my family is going to be moving there. I don't want to go, honest I don't, but I have to. I'm sorry." _

_ "You can't be moving. No, you can't go! What about me? What about us? You're pretty much telling me you're breaking up with me right now!" _

_ "I don't want to break up with you Alex! God, I love you! If there was anyway that I could stay, I would, but my parents have made up their minds and there's no way that my dad is going to turn down this offer." _

_ Alex is stock still for a moment before she throws her self into Abbie's arms and immediately begins sobbing on the brunette's shoulder. "P-please…you can't leave me…I need you!" _

_ Abbie feels her own tears begin to fall as she desperately clutches the sobbing girl in her arms. "I'm so sorry Ali…I'm so, so, so sorry."_

* * *

But that was a week ago, and now as she stands in the middle of the airport, Alex feels like her entire world has crumbled around her. She has cried more in this single day than she is sure that she ever has her entire life. Clutching Abbie in a tight grip, she sobs hysterically for she doesn't want to let go, because if she let's go that means that it's real and she just doesn't want to believe that it's happening.

Abbie pulls away from Alex long enough to say goodbye to the others that have gathered to see her off to her flight. She walks over to Liv and pulls her best friend into a tight hug, thoroughly surprised that the shorter girl is tearing up a bit. "Are you crying Benson?" she teases, laughing a little trying to lighten the moment.

Olivia pulls back and wipes the tears lining her eyes. "No…yeah, maybe a little." She admits before she wraps an arm around Serena's waist again. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too." Abbie replies as she turns towards Serena and holds out her arms. "And I know I'll miss you. There isn't anyone who I know is as social as you are."

Serena laughs through her small amount of tears and returns the hug. "Take care of yourself, and don't get into trouble down there in Oklahoma."

"Yes Ma'am," Abbie responds with a smile as she moves down towards Kim. It pains her a little to see that the shorter girl won't exactly look at her directly at the moment. "Could you give us a minute you guys?" she asks the rest of the group, but to Alex's slight confusion but she's to distraught to protest.

Abbie turns back to Kim and still is a little hurt that the girl still won't look at her. "Would it be too much to ask you for a hug?" she asks quietly yet expectantly.

Kim shakes her head and wraps her arms around her self. "You broke my heart and then you avoided me like I was the plague, like I had some sort of deadly disease or something which only proceeded to break my heart even further. I never had the courage to tell you that I fell in love with you but now I'm glad that I didn't because I would hate to imagine how you would have treated me if I had." She admits quietly. "Did you tell Alex what happened."

"No I felt…I feel like this is enough for her right now and since my obliviousness shares most of the blame here…let's just let that be our little secret. Okay?" Abbie suggests with a raise of her eyebrows.

"Alright." Kim replies although her voice cracks on the tail end of the word. She places her hand over her mouth in an attempt to keep her self together. When she sees Abbie try to hug her, she steps back and shakes her head vigorously. "No, no…I'll be fine."

Abbie nods her head and turns back to their returning group of friends. She wraps her arms around Alex once again in an attempt to calm the blonde and get her to stop sobbing. "I'll call you okay? I'll call, I'll write, I'll do whatever it is I have to do to stay in contact with you okay?"

Alex shakes her head as she pulls away from the hug. "Abbie I…no…you won't. You say you will and you will for a while, but then everything will start to die down and fade away. I'll be expecting a call that you'll never make or be waiting for a letter that you'll never send. Please I…I can't set my self up for those kinds of broken promises. I just…I don't want you to go."

"I don't want to go." Abbie murmurs before she presses their lips together, tasting the tears that have run across Alex's lips. She is forced to break the kiss when she hears her name and turns to see her family waiting for her at the gate for their plane. "Alex, I have to go now…"

"No please…stay with me. Don't leave." Alex begs as she keeps a tight nit grip on Abbie. "Please don't go."

"Alex, I have to…."

"No! Please! Don't leave me!"

Serena literally has to intervene and gentle tear Alex away from the grip that she was keeping on Abbie. She feels her best friend go weak in the knees and she cautiously guides the two of them to the floor in order to keep the hysteric blonde from collapsing in a heat.

Abbie's heart snaps in two when she sees Alex on her knees and sobbing hysterically on Serena's shoulder. She would want nothing more than to run back and wrap Alex in her arms and tell her that she could stay but she knows that it's pointless to wish for the impossible.

"It's for the best Abbie." Mark says quietly as he claps his daughter on the shoulder, ushering her through the terminal gate with his wife and son following not to far behind them.

"Alex, come on honey, we gotta go." Serena says quietly as she brushes some of her best friend's blonde hair behind her ear.

"It hurts so much Rena…I-I can't…"

"You have to Alex…I'm so sorry honey."

"I can't Serena. I need her and…she's gone. How am I supposed to continue to go on like this?"

**Later**

" Hey guys, where's Alex?" JJ asks curiously as she walks into cheer practice and notices the absence of the blonde at the start of practice when she's usually the first one there.

Serena cocks her eye at noticing the innocent blonde approaching her hand in hand with none other than Casey Novak. "She ah, she decided that she was going to stay home today. She still a little torn up at the fact that Abbie's moved away." she explains to JJ though she keeps her gaze locked on Casey. She can't help but notices the girl's shiny crimson hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, accompanied by her wardrobe, a light form fitting tee under a leather jacket and form fitting skinny jeans with simple converse sneaks. It is a definite change from the redhead's typical attire and to be honest, Serena thinks she actually looks kind of hot but she immediately blushes and curses her self at the thought. "You look nice Casey."

"Thanks." Casey replies as she briefly looks at her shoe covered feet. "It's a nice change I guess."

"You can go sit over there and watch if you want to. If you wanna leave though I understand." JJ says as she turns to Casey.

"No, I'll stay. It's no problem. I think it's cute watching you cheer anyway." Casey responds as she leans down and presses a kiss to the petite blonde's lips before she heads over to the bleachers where she sits down feeling a little disgusted with her self.

She can't help but feel like the scum of the earth with everything that's going on right now. She like's JJ, she really does, she likes her a lot, and more than that friend zone kind of stage either. But at the very same time, she still feels like her heart belongs to Alex. She often finds her self comparing the two blonde's against one another and she knows that's not fair.

What makes things even worse is the fact that Casey knows that JJ really likes her; like _really_ likes her. The more and more time they spend together, the more she realizes that JJ likes her. But she likes Alex; which is why she hasn't asked JJ to officially be her girlfriend. How is it fair to ask someone to be your girlfriend when your heart already belongs to someone else?

"So, you two seem pretty cozy." Serena inquires with a smile on her face. "What's going on there?"

JJ stops stretching and whips around towards the curious blonde. "If your going to start telling me how I shouldn't be around her and start criticizing me on my decisions, then you can just stop right there."

Serena holds up her hands in defense and shakes her head. "Jennifer, calm down. I wasn't about to attack you. When ever you're around her you seem really school girl giddy and you start blushing like crazy. I was just wondering if you were dating so I could be happy for you."

"Sorry, I guess I'm just used to Alex doing that thing she does…" JJ mumbles as she begins blushing. She looks over to Casey who is sitting on the bleachers doing something on her phone before she turns back to Serena and sighs. "I really like her a lot and she acts like she likes me too, but she hasn't asked me to be her girlfriend. It's almost like…there's something holding her back, you know? I don't think she realizes just how good I am at reading human behavior. Sometimes she'll look at me and I can see for a split second, it looks like she wants more and then it changes to her realizing she isn't getting more and she's just settling; then her mask goes back up. I don't know what it is I can do to make her want me like I want her to, you know? I just feel like she wants more than I can actually give. It's almost like…she wants someone else."

Serena bites her lower lip and refrains from making a comment. Although, the facial expression doesn't go unnoticed and she immediately curses at JJ's over observant tendencies.

"Why did you make that face? What do you know that I don't? Don't lie to me Serena, because I know that you can't. You're a terrible liar." JJ states bluntly.

"I know." Serena whines as she stomps her foot. "I don't know I was just thinking. It might be a possibility that she likes someone else, I don't know. I just think you should talk to her, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess your right. It's just…she's so misunderstood, you know? People were so quick to judge her that no one actually took the time to get to know her and figure out what a nice person she really is."

"I get what you're saying, but when the majority sees her act like a jerk, the majority is going to treat her like a jerk. But I've seen something in her that I haven't seen in like…ever, and that's a heart. Maybe you were that one person that was able to change her for the better."

JJ nods with a small smile on her face. "I hope so."

"Me too." Serena replies quietly before she clears her throat and smiles. "Now let's see how much of this practice we can get done before all of us want to conspire and offer Carly to the wind gods."

"You all believe in wind gods?!"

"It was a joke Jen…"

* * *

After cheer practice, Serena practically forces Kim into her car so they can drive over the see Alex and she practically drags the protesting brunette to the Cabot's front door where she stops and points a finger in Kim's face. "I don't know what yours and Alex's problem is but it needs to be fixed. No matter what's going on with you two right now, we are still best friends got it? Through thick and thin and we are not going to let something stupid and petty tear us apart. As much of a bitch she has been lately, Alex is still our best friend and she still needs us right now. So we are going to go up there and we are going to be the amazing best friends we are and check on her, got it?"

Kim opens her mouth to protest but decides that it might be best if she doesn't say anything at all. "Right," she replies with a nod of her head.

Serena's scowl fades and she puts on a smile when Veronica comes to the door. "Good evening Mrs. Cabot. How are you today?"

"I'm good, and how are you girls?" Veronica replies, stepping to the side to allow the two teens to enter the house.

"We're great." Kim replies with a sincere smile. "We came to check on Alex."

"It's good that you did." Veronica replies before she sighs and shakes her head. "I've never seen her like this before. If you can please try to convince her to come down and eat something. She's just been cooped up in that room for I don't know how long. She's starting to worry me."

"Don't worry, we've come to spread our happiness and joy. C'mon Kim." Serena exclaims cheerfully as she sets about climbing the stairs.

The two make their way down one of the hallways towards Alex's room and Serena quietly opens the door without even bothering to knock. As soon as they step into the room, they see literally everything in complete disarray. Used tissues litter the floor next to the bed and in the bed a large lump can be seen right in the center.

"Oh my god." Kim gasps as her OCD begins to kick in and she has the urge to go around to room cleaning up anything and everything she can get her hands on.

"Ali?" Serena says quietly as she cautiously sits on the edge of the bed. "It's Kim and me. We've come to visit honey."

"Go 'way." the lump grumbles heavily from under the blankets.

"Alex, seriously, you cannot stay in her all day like this. Look at this place!" Kim exclaims as her voice increases several octaves. "I mean…seriously. We're really concerned about you all."

"Kim's right." Serena adds on. "Everything will get better eventually but you just can't sit here down in the dumps forever."

Alex shoots up in bed and stares at her two best friends with her bloodshot eyes. Her face is paler than usual simply because she is void of any make up and the dark circles under her eyes make her look like she's physically ill. "What if that's all I'm worth right now!? There's no reason to do anything else Serena! Look at me! Do you see what I am without her here?! Do you have any idea of what it's like to lose the person that you have literally given your everything to?! I gave her all of me Serena! I gave her my energy, I gave her my time, I gave her my heart, hell, I gave her my virginity! Now she's gone and she took all of that with her! My heart, mind and body I gave to her and now she's gone! She took all of me you guys and now I feel like I'm nothing. I'm not worth anything anymore. I should have listened…I shouldn't have given her everything because now that she's gone, I don't know what to do with myself. Now that she's gone…I feel empty."

**Exit Abbie stage left, Enter Casey, stage right. Yes, yes, I have glorious written Abbie out of the story…for now. Mwahahaha, I mean come on, you guys honestly didn't think I'd get rid of her forever now would I? What fun would the future be if I did that? Lol, leave your thoughts? **


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Glad to know that I can kind of hold off on Alex's and Casey's relationship a little bit. I was afraid that you guys were gonna want me to rush it since you were all so eager at the beginning, but I want to make it realistic so I am gonna hold off a bit. Thanks for all your love and support so here's another chapter! **

Alex wanders the shelves of the library feeling like a zombie. She knows that spending time at the public library isn't how normal Alex would spend her Saturday morning, but guess what? Normal Alex is gone. No. In fact, normal Alex is dead; at least that's how she's feeling at the moment. The world has lost all of its and so has she. While she would normally leave the house in a cute colorful top, and a cute mini skirt accompanied with some leggings and her favorite boots, she now finds her self in a grey hoodie, jeans, and sneakers while her hair is pulled into a messy ponytail. She didn't even bother to put her contacts in this morning so she just opted for sticking her glasses haphazardly on her face.

Like she states before, the world has drained of all of its color and all Alex practically sees is different hues and shades of black and white. She continues to wander around the library as her feet and her brain on autopilot. In fact, she is so far into autopilot, that she doesn't register that she's about to run into something until the collision actually happens causing the other person to drop all of their books. "Sorry…" she mumbles quietly as she bends down to help the person pick up their books.

"It's no problem. I should have been watching where I was-Alex?" Casey trails off as she stands up to her full height and eyes the blonde in confusion. "You look terrible."

"Thanks for making a girl feel good about her self." Alex mutters as she shoves her hands into the pocket of her hoodie.

Casey shakes her head and finishes picking up the rest of her books. "No, no, sorry. That's not what I meant. I didn't mean for it to come out like that. What I meant to say was…are you okay? You look really…zoned out."

Alex snorts and limply leans against one of the bookshelves. "I feel really 'zoned out'. Nothing has any purpose anymore." she drones lamely.

"Here, uh, let's set. You look like you could use someone to talk to." Casey says as she grabs the sleeve of Alex's jacket and pulls over to a table where the blonde collapses limply into the seat.

"Why do you even care?" Alex mumbles lowly as she begins drawing random patterns on the table with her finger. "You've got your girlfriend, why even bother yourself with me? I'm pathetic. I wouldn't even want to other myself with me, why are you here."

"Because you honestly look like you could use a friend to vent to." Casey states before she takes a deep breath. "And I can be a really good listener."

Alex blinks before she lets her head roll limply from shoulder to shoulder. "I'm such a loser now. I don't have anything anymore. What do you do when you give all of yourself to someone and then they leave you? Where do you go after that?"

Casey raises her eyebrows in curiosity and drums her fingers on the table. "Is this about scar-Abbie leaving?" she asks, her question being answer when Alex's eyes glaze over and it looks like she's trying to fight tears. "Sorry, I probably shouldn't have…"

"No, it's fine. You aren't the first person to bring it up and you most definitely won't be the last, but what am I supposed to do now? Where am I supposed to go from here? She took me with her and now whatever this pathetic shell of a girl is, is left her wandering around like a lost soul with no where to go."

"Gee, I'm really sorry Alex. I guess I just never really took the time to look at how in love with her you were."

"She was my first time, you know." Alex says quietly as she examines her plain fingernails. That first time she told me she was going to make love to me, and she did, I felt like we were going to be together forever at that moment. I offered my self to her and I let her take me. And you know what? I continued to let her take me. Every time we did it, she took a piece of me, little by little until I had nothing left, until I belonged to her. Why am I telling you this? Hell, I don't really know. Maybe it's because you offered to listen, maybe it's because I'm just going crazy, I don't even know. I just don't know anything anymore."

Casey takes a deep breath and looks down at her nervously twiddling thumbs. As of late, she's been more and more nervous and she hasn't been afraid to show her true emotions, maybe that's what Alex needs so she can understand that she can relate. "Um…my Mom is a chronic alcoholic. Sometimes, she gets so drunk that she passes out in her own vomit in the middle of the living room, not having any idea of where she is or even who is for the matter. When I get home, I usually have to clean her up and put her to bed because she can't do it on her own. Sometimes, she'll be drinking, and she'll get so angry that she'll come at me with whatever she can get her hands on. What am I supposed to do then? I know I have a right to defend myself, but I can't bring my self to fight my intoxicated mother, you know? Anyway, things get really hard at home sometimes and I've found that opening up about them to someone really helps. Opening up to JJ has helped me so much over the past couple of months that I actually feel like a whole different person. I'm not angry all of the time anymore and I don't really feel the need to release that anger through sex like I used to. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it doesn't really matter if you're just rambling on and on about nothing. What matters is what makes you feel better, if that makes any sense. Like…you shouldn't let what's going on in your life get you angry because you'll find something stupid to try to rid yourself of that anger. I've ruined so many girls because of my own personal issues and it just wasn't fair to any of them."

A small smile spreads across Alex's face but she just doesn't have to will or energy to keep it there. "When did you become such a teddy bear?"

Casey groans and drops her head into her hands. "It's JJ. She's made me go soft. It's all because of her that I swoon over cuddly animals or anything that's cute or whatever. So where did scarecro-Abbie, move to?"

Alex chuckles at Casey's attempt to call Abbie by her actual name. "I think it's kind of funny that you're trying to refer to her by her name." Alex chuckles lamely before her expression falls again. "She moved to Oklahoma where her dad got a job for coaching basketball. I just miss her so much and it's almost been just a little over a week now."

"Has she called at all or anything?"

"Yeah, she's called but she couldn't talk long. She's busy trying to adjust to her new school and everything so it doesn't really surprise me that she doesn't have time for me, you know? I mean, why would she waste her time talking to her ex girlfriend who is hundreds of miles away? Ex girlfriend…that term sounds so…foreign. I just never though I'd have to say it."

"I'm sorry." Casey responds sincerely as her heart goes out to the depressed blonde. "This might be a long shot, but do you want to go get a hot chocolate or something? I'll buy. You look like you could use something to cheer you up."

Alex nods her head before she glumly stands up from her seat. She catches sight of one of the books on Casey's stack and she tilts her head to get a better view of it. "Law: An Owner's Guide to Criminal Law and Trial Practice." She reads aloud before she glances back up at Casey. "Why are you reading law books?"

Casey blushes and blatantly covers the stack of books with her hands preventing Alex from reading anything else. "No reason. Um, I'll put these back and then we can go, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Alex replies quietly as she watches the redhead hurry back among the shelves to return the books that she had picked up. She waits patiently until Casey returns and continues to eye her with genuine curiosity. "You had to have been reading them for a reason, right?"

"Yeah, maybe, I don't know. They're interesting sometimes." Casey responds shoving her hands into her pockets against the cold as they exit the library. "What's it to you anyway?"

Alex shrugs nonchalantly and does the same though she doesn't feel cold against the harsh winds. "No reason really, I was just wondering. Do you want to be a lawyer Casey? It's cool if you do."

Casey shrugs and angles her head towards the ground as they continue walking. "It wouldn't even matter if I did. You gotta be really smart to be a lawyer and I only just recently learned what the hypotenuse of a triangle was. I'm too dumb for a job like that."

"Casey you aren't dumb. You've just gotta apply yourself more in school." Alex states, pausing before a thought crosses her mind. "Have you ever thought about playing a sport? Like basketball or something?"

"No, not really." Casey replies with a shrug. "Why?"

A look of realization comes across her face as an idea sparks in her head. "I don't know why I feel like you'd be good at this. Skip the hot chocolate. I have an idea."

* * *

"Can you please explain to me why I'm dong this again?" Connie Rubirosa exclaims from the pitcher's mound on the softball field.

"Because I had an epiphany and I needed your help." Alex calls out from behind the fence so she doesn't run the risk of getting hit. "Besides, if it doesn't work, you can leave, but keep in mind, you still owe me that favor for that one time!"

Connie rolls her eyes at her friend and sticks out her tongue. "Whatever." She calls over. "You ready Rollins?" the brunette calls over to her catcher who squats down into position.

"Yeah I'm ready." Amanda calls back before she glances up at Casey who is staring at the bat in her hands. "You better not hit me Novak, or else I'll kick your ass."

"I didn't even know you played softball Rollins." Casey replies before realization dawns on her. "Hey wait. YOU kick MY ass?"

"You just said you didn't know I played softball, you don't know what I can do." Amanda responds before she turns her attention back to her pitcher.

Connie holds eye contact with Amanda for a moment reading the blonde's low hand signals. She waits for the right one before she nods her head and waits a few more seconds before she pitches the ball without warning.

Casey surprises the other three girls by going after the first pitch and the softball makes a satisfying noise as it connects with the metal bat and is sent flying over the fence all the way in the outfield leaving Connie and Amanda completely speechless.

"No way, beginners luck." Amanda says as she tosses Connie another softball. "Send her another one!"

One pitch after the other, Casey hits no matter it's speed or it's type, she always ends up sending it sailing over the far end of the outfield leaving all three of the other girls speechless and in shock.

"Casey, have you ever played softball before?" Connie asks in complete awe as she walks off of the mound and approaches Casey.

Casey shakes her head and hands over the bat in her hands. "No, not really. I actually wasn't sure if I'd be any good at it. It was my first time holding a bat and actually swinging at something that wasn't illegal to be swinging at." She says, falling silent when she sees the look she receives from the other girls. "…Never mind."

Amanda clears her throat and slugs the redhead in the shoulder. "Here, c'mon, jog with me around the field." She says before she takes off into a jog with Casey not to far behind.

"Did you know she would be that good?" Connie asks as she approaches Alex who is now coming out from behind the fence.

Alex blinks and shakes her head. "I honestly had absolutely no idea. I just figured that she needed something to be involved in, and I don't know why I felt like she'd like to hit at stuff."

Connie raises her eyebrows and nods as she glances at Casey who is trying to best Amanda at their sprint. "Well she seems like she'd be a really great player. I can talk to my coach about her. It's good that you caught me before the season started so coach might actually let her play."

"I think that'd be good for her. I think it'll be good to see her do something other than cause trouble, you know? She's actually really nice once you get past that tough exterior she puts up and that was from me spending a few hours with her this morning." Alex replies before she sighs.

"How're you holding up?" Connie asks as she places a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

Alex shrugs her shoulders and sighs heavily. "To be honest? I'm not doing to great, but I guess that's just the gist of everything right now. I can't do anything about it so what. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to be upset."

"Well, if you need anything, let me know, okay?"

"Thanks…"

**I liked this one. Did you guys like it? I did. Anyhow, leave your thoughts? **


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: fast forwarding here because this is the unmarked epilogue to where I end their junior year. Enjoy!**

**6 Months Later**

"Hello?"

"Hey Abbie." Alex says as she smiles into her cell phone upon hearing the brunette's voice.

"Uh...hey..." Abbie replies in an awkward fashion.

"How're you? How's everything? You've kinda stopped calling so I just wanted to...see how you are, you know? I-I still think about you."

"Great, that's great. Things are going great. Um look, Alex I'm not trying to be rude here but why are you calling me exactly?"

"I just wanted to talk that's all. Maybe we could schedule something so I could come visit? You could show me around and we hang out."

"Right...I don't really think that's such a great idea. Don't you think it's time we stop this? Whatever this is?"

Alex frowns and shakes her head as she draws her knees up to her chest. "I don't understand."

Abbie sighs heavily from her end of the line. "It's been six months which is a long time if you really think about it. When I left, we kind of broke up...which didn't really open up anything for a long distance relationship."

"But...we love each other...right? You told me you loved me. You said so. How does that just go away?"

"Maybe it wasn't really there to begin with?"

Alex swears that she feels her heart shatter into a thousand tiny little pieces at the statement. "H-how can you say that? You promised me. You promised me forever..."

"I guess forever wasn't really mine to promise you..."

"How can you say this to me? I thought...but you said...all of the things you told me. I-I had sex with you. I gave myself to you. How can you say that you never loved me?"

"I'm sorry okay? But that was then and things make a little more sense now. I-I have a girlfriend...and she's not...too clingy or dependent."

"And I was!?"

"A little. I'm not trying to hurt you I just want you to understand that what we had was in the past. I've moved on and I think you should too..."

Alex doesn't realize that she has tears stinging behind her eyes at all of the things she's being told. "You never loved me to begin with...did you?" She whispers, foreshadowing that she isn't going to like the answer.

There is silence from Abbie's end of the call before yet another sigh is heard. "I liked you a lot but I don't think I..." She trails off, unable to get the words out.

"Oh...I guess I just...that year of our relationship, it wasn't real? All of those times I told you I loved you, I meant it. Did any of the times we shared mean anything to you? How could you say that you made love to me if you never really felt that way? Why did you do all of that and say all of those things?"

"We had...fun, didn't we? I really didn't know you felt that...strongly about everything. I mean, we're still teenagers right? I didn't know you could really feel any of that?"

"Right. It was...my mistake. Don't worry, I won't bother you anymore..."

"Alex I'm sorry..."

"Me too." The blonde whispers before she resists the urge to send her phone flying across the room. She sits in the heavy silence of her bedroom, staring at the wall in complete and utter awe.

Never in her life has she felt more foolish than she does at this moment right now. She makes a sudden decision before she quickly leaves her room and exits her house out in to the rain.

Alex runs until her lungs burn but even then we pushes her self to keep going. She runs until she can run anymore, but it doesn't matter because she's reached her destination anyway. She knocks on the front door and wraps her arms around herself in need of comfort.

The door finally opens and out steps a vey confused redhead with a perplexed look on her face. "Alex? What're you doing here?" Casey questions curiosity, concerned about the blondes frazzled appearance.

"Please don't say I told you so..." Alex whimpers before she throws her self into Casey's arms and begins sobbing violently on the redhead's shoulder.

* * *

Casey walks Alex into the cozy little Internet cafe that is mostly vacant because if the patrons that have forwent their coffee fix because of the brewing weather outside. She takes note that the blonde is shaking heavily and she isn't sure if it's from being cold and outside or if it's from whatever has upset her to the point of hysterics.

Over the past six months the two have formed quite a stable and continuously budding friendship that they've both found themselves comfortable in. Thy have learned some valuable things about one a over that they both have quite surprisingly held near and dear to both of their hearts.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on?" Casey inquires softly as she sits a cup of hot chocolate down in front of her frazzled friend.

Alex continues to shake involuntarily as she draws her fee up and into the plush chair she's occupying at their little table in the back. "I called Abbie today. I wanted to talk to her because we haven't really spoken that much and I thought she was jut busy. So I called, thinking she'd be excited to hear from me." Alex trails off sadly as she begins to tear up again. "She...she wasn't. She has intentionally not been calling me anymore. I guess I just couldn't take the hint. I asked her how everything was going and I...I told her that there might be a chance I could go visit her but she said that wouldn't be a great idea. She said that she has another girlfriend now and implied that I shouldn't come around. I told her I thought we loved each other but then she went on and said that we were just having fun and nothing ever really meant anything. All of those times that she told me she loved me weren't real. All of those times she made love to me weren't real. All of what we were wasn't real. None of it. She said she didn't realize how devoted I was and she didn't think I really meant it either; that it was all just fun. She basically told me not to call anymore because she had moved on...and I should too."

"Gee Al, I'm really sorry." Casey says sympathetically not really knowing what else to say at this point. To be honest it doesn't surprise her that Abbie would say something like that. She always did feel like the brunette would end up being the world's greatest jerk, she just isn't going to voice her confirmations out loud. "Really that...that's terrible."

"It's my own fault. She's right though. It's my fault for thinking we'd last like I wanted us to. It's just so hard to accept that the full year of our relationship was a lie. That it was all just supposed to be for fun." Alex trails off disappointedly.

"You became too dependent on her." Casey states calmly. "You let her take control over you and you let her make you feel like you needed her. You don't need her Alex. You're intelligent, beautiful, funny, and everything else great that could describe you. But you let being with her cover all of that up. Being with her made you into something you're not. I know you aren't the dependent bitch you were acting like all those months ago. You're better than that. You just have to start getting used to being able to stand on your own but I know you can so it. Stop letting people lead you and take charge on your own."

A sliver of a smile spreads across Alex's lips as she takes a sip of her hot chocolate. "You would make a good motivational speaker."

"I've just been through a lot, that's all." Casey replies nonchalantly with a shrug.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"How come you used to have that crush on me? Even when I was like that?"

Casey blushes the crimson color of her hair and nervous begins twiddling her thumbs. "Um...I thought you were really beautiful. Like...goddess-like gorgeous. I honestly don't think you realize just how breathtakingly beautiful you are. Plus you were really smart and I literally couldn't take my mind off of you. I wanted so desperately to talk to you but I could never build up enough courage."

"Freshman year you got tongue tied when you tried to ask me my name at orientation." Alex giggles as she recalls the first day of school perfectly.

"You remember that?" Casey responds with widened eyes before she chuckles nervously. "Oh man, I felt like such an idiot. Anyway, because I couldn't find enough courage to talk to you, I had to come up with other ways to get you to notice me. Unfortunately my methods were a little flawed..."

"You're still reading those law books."

"...how can you tell?"

"Your vocabulary and speech has changed." Alex states with a smile. "I'm not saying you were illiterate to begin with but your speech patterns and the way you speak has changed a lot."

Casey blushes and ducks her head a little at the compliment. "You sound like my girlfriend." She murmurs with that same blush spreading across her face.

A blush that Alex can't help but find absolutely adorable. "You and Jennifer are really cute together." She says as her eyes briefly cast down towards the table.

"Thanks. She's...a cute person. She reminds me of an energetic puppy who won't sit still. She really likes cuddling too. She's a snuggler."

"That is so cute! She's made you into such a softy!"

Casey groans playfully and she shakes her head. "Whatever. Hey can I ask you something? Does Olivia smoke weed?"

Alex's eyes nearly pop out of her head and she is extremely taken aback at the question. "Uh, no, at least not that I know of, but I'm fairly certain she doesn't...why...?"

"Because she's always so chill about...everything. Literally. And I'm kinda scared of her. But she's always so...quiet and stuff."

"Oh! No. She's not doing any drug, that's just who she is. She's a real quiet person. Very private too. Don't get me wrong, it's not like she's mute or anything but she's just...quiet. She talks when she's with us and maybe some of the team but other than that she's not really much of a talker. Just don't piss her off, that's all I'll say. Which translates to, don't mess with Serena. Why the sudden question about Liv?"

"Oh, I don't know. I just...I kinda wanna get to know your friends too. I mean you know my two friends that I have but I don't really know much about yours. I don't know if they'd like me but I was just wondering."

Alex thinks for a moment effort she shrugs her shoulders. "I dunno. Serena might be the easiest to get in with simply because she's just a people person. She likes people. Your hardest may be with Kim because of the whole legacy dance deal..."

Casey's eyes widen and her mouth falls open at the comment. "Seriously?! She's still on that! It was a long time ago! In my defense, she's the one who let me."

"Yeah that was kind of Carly's fault. Carly wanted to see Kim drunk so she and a couple of the other girls got her wasted. She was so hammered by the time we actually left. It was actually pretty funny."

"Wow, great friends." Casey says sarcastically, unable to keep the humor out of her voice. "I'm glad we're friends now. It's nice that there are some people out there who'll give me a chance."

"Same." Alex replies as she reaches across the table and gives Casey's hand a squeeze, immediately feeling some kind of shock that causes both girls to jump.

"Sorry...static electricity." Casey chuckles nervously as she rubs her bands together.

"Yeah." Alex replies as she clears her throat. "So what do you say we get out of here and you can help me De Abbie-fy my room?"

"Sounds great. Let's go."

**"Does Olivia smoke weed?" OMG I cracked up on that part! Lol, anyhow, thus I end junior year here, I know it might seem like I'm skipping but I still got a lot to cover. Lol anyhow, hope you guys enjoyed this cutesy chapter! Leave your thoughts?**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Enjoy my lovelies!**

"Please tell me that you aren't going to be a drill sergeant. Because drill sergeants suck and everyone hates them." Serena whines as she stretches across the bleachers. "Why are we even here this early? Alex, this is stupid…"

Alex straightens up and folds her arms before she rolls her eyes her best friend. In all of her years of knowing Serena, she has long since figured out that the bubbly blonde is definitely not a morning person. "Serena, you realize that when the rest of the squad gets here, you're going to have to be a lot happier than that. Didn't you read that stupid handbook they gave us at that leadership training thing?"

"…No."

"Great, me neither."

Serena laughs lightly before she lies back down and stares at the ceiling of the gym. "Maybe Kim read it. See, that's why Kim would make a good captain. She likes to read stuff and she follows the rules." She says nonchalantly before her eyes widen at the sudden silence. She sits up quickly and stares at Alex who is glaring back at her. "I-I mean…I'm not saying that you won't. I mean…you're captain for a reason right? Coach P wouldn't make you captain if she didn't have a reason to! I just meant that…actually…I don't know what I mean. I'll just set up now."

"Gee thanks Serena. Glad to know that you have sooooo much faith in me." Alex says sarcastically as she shakes her head. "Have you looked at the roster? It looks like we've gotten bigger this year."

"The JV squad is huge! So are the freshman! It really doesn't make sense at how many incoming freshman we have this year, it's ridiculous. Speaking of the roster, do you have that? I kinda wanna look over whose moved up from the JV squad or if anyone was moved down or anything. Why are there two co-captains this year, anyway? Have we really grown that much?"

"I guess…weren't there two last year though?" Alex replies before she snaps her fingers. "No, there were two last year! Carol just never really did anything so no one really saw her as…anything."

Serena sighs heavily before she lies back down on the bleacher. "I feel like we belong in some cheesy movie. Three best friends…leading a cheerleading squad…then we'll graduate and go to college and actually figure out what we want to do with out lives." She trails off before she sighs once more. "Can you believe it? We're about to b seniors! We actually have responsibilities! We gotta think about college and stuff…Wouldn't it be easier if the worlds best occupations didn't require you to go to college?"

Alex's face scrunches up drastically as she shakes her head in disgust. "Then there would be a bunch of stupid, uneducated people in power. No thanks Serena. Maybe in your crazy world that can happen but not in mine."

"It was just a thought."

"A horrid one."

There is a rustling and shuffling before Kim makes her presence known in the gym. She walks over to the bleachers and throws her stuff down before she plops down in a huff. "It looks like it's going to rain and there was so much traffic on the highway between here and my house. Plus it was impossible to leave the house this morning! Kennedy would not shut up about her stupid toys and Caroline was being as annoying as usual. It is a mad house you guys; a mad house. Sometimes they make me feel like I cannot wait to graduate just to get the hell out of there."

"Good morning to you too." Alex responds with a small giggle before she looks up from what she's doing. "Do you have the squad roster? Serena said you did."

Kim shuffles through her bag before she pulls out a packet of papers and tosses it in Alex's direction. "I'm not ready for summer to be over you guys. I just want to go back home and sleep."

"You? Laze around and get nothing done? The world must be ending." Serena deadpans earning her a flick in the ear. "Hey! You cannot take a joke…"

Within fifteen to twenty minutes a few of the girls begin arriving into the gym. It's a slightly diverse group with some looking quite relaxed and chatty with the other girls while others look rather nervous and borderline frightened on what could be to come for them in the future; no doubt, these are the new girls. What Alex doesn't expect in the slightest is to see her younger sister slink into the gym with warm up clothes and a gym bag.

"What? Rachel, oh my god, what are you doing here?" Alex exclaims as she steps away from her friends and approaches the slightly shorter blonde.

"I'm on varsity." Rachel replies with a shrug as if it's the most obviously thing in the world, much to her older sisters disgust.

"Ew, gross, no, get out. You can't be on varsity, you're just a freshman. If anything you should be on JV."

Rachel scowls deeply and crosses her arms tightly over her chest. "Okay, hey, I take offense to that thank you. And obviously I'm here for a reason. Just because I'm a freshman doesn't mean I'm not good. Don't be mad because you know I'm probably better than you Ali."

"Just…go over there and sit down. Just because I'm captain and you're my little sister, DON'T be expecting any special treatment of any kind."

"Wasn't planning on it. You do your job, I'll do mine."

Alex is left completely speechless as her mouth is left hanging open and practically dragging across the ground. She watches her sister saunter over to the bleachers before she resists the urge to scream in complete and total frustration.

Stomping over to her two co-captains, Alex folds her arms tightly and scowls as her back is to the rest of the squad. "I changed my mind. I don't want to do this anymore."

**Later **

"So practice was hard?" Casey asks as she throws the softball back in Alex's direction.

"It wasn't hard it was just…some of the girls aren't really applied yet and others are completely terrified all ready." Alex states before she tosses the ball back and scowls in irritation. "Plus, my little sister is on the squad. Can you believe it? Rachel of all people actually made it on varsity. And she's a freshman!"

Casey chuckles at her friends blatant frustrations and she realizes that Alex does kind of have a tendency to over react about some things. "Aw c'mon Al, don't you want to be a little proud of her? That's gotta be some sort of accomplishment right? Even though I know next to nothing about cheerleading. I mean…can it be hard to prance around in a skirt and shout at people?"

Alex's jaw drops drastically for probably the hundredth time that day before she puts her hands on her hips. "Okay, I know you're like a sporty lug head now but cheerleading is so much more than prancing around in a skirt and shouting at people. We have to be just as sporty as anyone else as well as energetic and 'preppy' for lack of a better term. Do you know how much gymnastics Rachel and I have done in our lives?"

"Gymnastics?"

"Please tell me you know what gymnastics is Casey…"

"No, I know what gymnastics is! I'm not an idiot." Casey exclaims as she scoffs disapprovingly. "I was just wondering how cheerleading and gymnastics are anything alike."

"We don't just come knowing how to do back hand springs and all of those fancy looking flips Casey, we have to learn." Alex states before she is unable to suppress her giggles. "You wouldn't last a day as a cheerleader."

Casey smirks at the comment and simply shrugs her shoulders. "And you wouldn't last a day as a softball player. To each their own, right?" she says nonchalantly. "So um…how are you?"

"I'm fine? Why?"

"No, I mean…how ARE you?"

"Oh, that." Alex says blandly as she comes to realization and her shoulders slump. "I'm doing really great actually. I'm over it. She's a jerk and if she wants to move on that fast, then so can I. There really would be no point in sitting her continuing to mope around right? I'll just move on with my life just like she wants to move on with hers. It's no big deal."

Casey nods her head before she smiles sheepishly. "Um, if it'll make you feel any better, I promise that if I ever see her again, I'll punch her in the nose for making you cry."

Alex giggles as she wraps her arms around her self. "Thanks, but something tells me we won't be running into her anymore. But I will hold you to that offer. If you ever see Abbie again, you can feel free to punch her in the nose for me. You know, unless you're too much of a teddy bear."

"Hey! I'm not a teddy bear! Take it back." Casey exclaims as she folds her arms tightly.

"Nope! I won't take it back because you're a big softy squishy cuddly teddy bear."

"I'm warning you. Take it back Cabot!"

"What're you gonna do? Snuggle me to death?" Alex teases back, running away when Casey begins to chase after her. Unfortunately, she completely underestimates the redhead's speed and she soon finds her self on her back in the grass being tickled senseless. "C-Casey s-stop!" she giggles hysterically as she tries to squirm out of the stronger girls grasp.

"Nope. You said I was a teddy bear then you wouldn't take it back. So now you have to be punished." Casey states firmly as she continues to tickle the hysterical blonde. "Take it back, then maybe I'll stop."

"N-NO! Never!"

"Alright, then I'll guess I'll just have to take off your shoes and tickle your feet!"

Alex's eyes widen and she vigorously shakes her head through her giggling. "N-no! Okay, okay! I take it back! I take it back!"

Casey ceases her tickling attack but still hovers over Alex with a rather pleased look on her face. Her triumphant smile fades as they make eye contact and for the first time, they deeply look into each other's eyes. Casey notices for the first just how much alike and different JJ and Alex are at the very same time.

Sure they're both blondes with blue eyes and great bodies but they're so different all the same. JJ's eyes are a baby-sky blue that remind Casey of the clear sea water at the beach, while Alex's are an icy blue that turn various shades of blue according to her mood; Casey's favorite is stormy blue. JJ is short and petite, while Alex is lean and slender and nearly bests her in height. Even their facial features differ. JJ still has an innocence about her while Alex's face shows that she is firm about her decision making whether it be the right one or the wrong one; she feels like it's hers to make and that's all that matters.

Immediately, Casey feels bad for comparing Jennifer to Alex when she knows that isn't fair to either of them. Swallowing thickly, she sits back on her hands and sighs heavily before she shakes her head.

"What's going through that head of yours?" Alex's asks softly yet curiously as she notices Casey's sudden change in demeanor.

"I don't know. I just feel…I suddenly feel like something's missing you know?" she says quietly as she rests her forearms on her knees. "I like Jen a lot, don't get me wrong, and we've been together for a long time I guess, but something's not there anymore. She doesn't really talk to me like she used to and she's changed a lot. She went to this camp thing over the summer with the FBI and that's all she's really been talking about lately. She even missed my last two softball games because she was doing something. It's not like I'm saying she's neglecting our relationship, it's just I feel like she's intentionally finding a plethora of things to do so we don't really have a chance to spend any time together. Even when we do spend time together, it's like…there's no thrill like there was in the beginning of our relationship. All she wants to do is study or something. I understand that school is really important to her, but all the time? She's a total workaholic who is biting off everything that she can chew, and then some. Maybe I just don't get it because I don't feel like I'm going to go anywhere in life."

"Hey, that's not true. Don't say that. I'm sure that you are going to go some amazing places in your life. You're really smart Case, and don't let anyone tell you other wise. But about the other thing; have you talked to Jen about any of that?"

"I've tried whenever she has time, but she insists that everything is fine. I just…I like her a lot, but I don't think we're getting anywhere. It's not even like our relationship is at a standstill, but it's like we're moving backwards. I don't want to break up with her but…"

Alex nods in understanding. "I get what you're saying. Well, as your friend, I want to help you but I'm afraid that it's going to have to be your heart's decision and not anything else's. You do what you feel is right."

A small smile appears on Casey's face as she nods her head. "I understand. I just…if I break up with her, I don't want her to hate me, you know? She's such a nice person and she really does deserve someone great, but right now, I don't know if I can be that someone great for her. She needs someone who can balance out with her, you know? And I don't know if that's me."

"Well, whatever you decide, I'll be there for you every step of the way, okay?"

"Thanks. That means a lot Al."

Alex smiles as she laces their fingers together and gives Casey's hand a squeeze. She feels her body flush when she swears that there is some sort of electrical current flowing between the two of them and she wonders if Casey can feel it too. Over the past several months, she's found her self growing dangerously attracted to the redhead, but she's never voiced it to anyone simply because she isn't sure if it's appropriate or not.

**Kinda taking a poll here and I really would like an answer from ALL OF YOU because it would make a huge difference. How much is it appropriate to skip over? Because I personally feel I'm starting to drag and I would like to push things further but I don't know how much. How do you guys feel? Oh and don't forget to leave your precious little thoughts! Your feedback makes my world go round! **


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I like what Butterscotch said so I think I'm going to go with that! I really liked this chapter and I hope you guys do too! Enjoy lovelies! **

"Hey Jen, can we uh talk about something?" Casey asks quietly as she moves up behind JJ's chair and gently runs her hand through the girl's silky blonde hair.

JJ lightly bites the end of her pencil before she hastily scribbles down one last thing on her paper. She then removes her glasses and stands up from her chair, taking Casey's hand and leading the redhead over to where they are sitting on the edge of her bed. "What's up?"

Casey takes a shaky deep breath and stares down at her hands. "U-um, I…I think there's something we need to talk about. Something important."

"What's going on? It sounds pretty serious." JJ inquires as she scoots further on to her bed and sits Indian style facing Casey. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes? No? A little? I'm not entirely sure actually. I just…things are different now between us. Have you noticed at all? I mean…we don't really spend as much time together anymore and you're always really busy with literally everything. Have you realized? You're always doing some extracurricular project or going to a club meeting for one of the hundreds of clubs that you're in. I just…I know that we can't ALWAYS spend time together but it's gotten to the point where we spend so little time together that it doesn't even feel like we're dating anymore."

"I know."

Jennifer's blunt and straightforward answer completely takes Casey by surprise and the redhead finds her self tilting her head in complete and utter confusion. "Y-you know? What do you mean? Like…you've intentionally not been spending time with me?"

"Well, yes and no." JJ replies before she sighs and shakes her head. "I realized a little while ago that we hadn't really been seeing much of each other, but you've been so happy hanging out with Alex and everything, I would've felt like I was sounding like an overly clingy girlfriend; so I just didn't really say anything. Plus, I could tell that Alex really makes you happy and I just don't want to stand in the way of your happiness. So, no, I wasn't intentionally not spending time with you, but I wasn't going to say anything until you came and talked to me about it, which here we are. You honestly didn't think I didn't notice did you? How your face lights up whenever she's around, or how you really like hanging out with her. I felt bad about all of your softball games that I had to miss, but at the same time, I wasn't worried because I knew that Alex would be there for you to make you smile."

"So…you were pushing me towards Alex?"

"In a way I guess I was. Don't get me wrong, I like you…a lot, but I think you're in love with her. I can see it in your eyes. And contrary to my former beliefs, she really is a good person, I just think you were the only one to really see past all of that harsh exterior that she had. That has to mean something right? If two people can see the good in each other, despite all of the bad, then they have to be meant to be, right? When I was away at the FBI camp, I met a girl named Emily. She was actually pretty scary when I first met her but that's beside the point. Anyway, she told me that she believes that everyone in the world has a match already and it takes both of those people to recognize it, no one else. Only those two people can realize that they're a match. I was a little surprised that she said that, mainly because she would stare at me when she thought I wasn't paying attention, but strangely what she said made sense. So I guess what I'm saying is…your heart belongs to Alex, I can tell; even if it's not to the full extent of what may truly be there."

Casey gives a weak nod as a small blush appears at her cheeks. "I…I'm sorry if I was spending too much time with her. We've just become friends you know? And she's really needed something these past few months and I just…"

"You don't have to apologize to me. I understand." JJ interrupts as a smile graces her lips.

Casey gives another weak nod and this time, nervously begins wringing her hands. "So where does this leave us? You and me?"

"I…I believe that it's best if we both pursue what it is our hearts want. Your hearts wants Alex and my heart wants to graduate with high honors to get into an ivy league college on scholarship for academics…I think it's best if we just…"

"Broke up?"

"You don't have to say it like that but…yeah." JJ concludes quietly before she gives another small smile.

"Oh…" Casey says quietly and ducks her head before she looks up again. "We could still be friends though right?"

"Of course! I don't see why we couldn't!" JJ exclaims cheerfully. "This isn't like…goodbye or anything. Besides, if we didn't stay friends, who would I have to argue over the best games with? Watching sports just wouldn't be the same without you."

Casey nods once again and remains still before she leans forward and places a soft, gentle kiss onto the blonde's lips. She holds them for a moment before she breaks the kiss and pulls away.

"What was that for?" JJ whispers with half closed eyes as her breathing becomes slightly ragged.

"Something to remember us by." Casey replies softly. "I um…I should probably get going. I'll see you around though, right?"

"Yes…yes, definitely. Take care of yourself. And go get her. She needs you."

Casey smiles and nods her head before she leaves, feeling like she's floating on cloud nine for some odd reason. She just hopes that following her heart also lead to making the wisest of decisions. Hopefully she'll find that out later without any troubles.

**Several Months Later **

"Alexandra, would you mind staying after class? There's something I need to speak with you about." Mrs. Hargrove states just before the final bell rings, signaling the end of the day.

The classroom empties and Alex sits at her desk wondering what is it exactly that she's being asked to stay after class for. It can't be about the test that they had just taken could it? She thought she did fairly well, but judging by the look on the teacher's face, she's a little more than frightened to see what this is about.

"Um, is this about the test we took?" Alex stutters shakily as she slightly shrinks under the older woman's gaze.

Mrs. Hargrove shakes her head and firmly folds her arms across her chest. "Honestly Alexandra, I'm a little appalled at your grade on this past test. You are my top student, and for you to make a grade such as this on my test, I'm actually beginning to wonder if there's something wrong. Is everything okay? Are there problems anywhere like at home?"

Alex vigorously shakes her head before she swallows the thick lump in her throat. "N-no ma'am. I guess with cheer and everything, things are getting just a little bit hectic but I didn't think that it was anything as serious as to the fact that it might be effecting my grades or anything."

The dark haired woman shakes her head in disappointment once again before she moves behind her desk and begins cycling through the various sheets of paper that little the top. "Honestly, you must pay more attention in my class then dear. If you aren't getting the material then it's almost as if I'm going to have to adjust my entire curriculum for the rest of the class!" she exclaims as she walks back over to Alex's desk, test in hand. "Here. I suggest that you look over your test to evaluate what it is that you've gotten wrong and what it is that you need to study from here on."

Alex shakily nods her head as she reaches out with a shaky hand and takes her test from her teacher. Honestly, she thought that she did fairly well on this test. She had stayed up for she doesn't know how long reading and rereading the material just to make sure that she did exceptionally well and to find out that she failed makes her feel like she's losing it and she doesn't even realize it.

Taking the test, Alex swallows thickly when she sees the big red lettered 'F' at the top of her paper. She has never gotten an F before in her whole entire life and now she feels like she wants to break down in tears for this single one.

"I think it'll be best if you look at your bubble sheet as well dear, just to make sure that your bubbled answers correlate with the answers that you have marked in your booklet." Mrs. Hargrove states as she folds her arms and leans against one of the desks in front of Alex's.

Alex nods her head as she places her test booklet on the desk and shakily picks up her bubble sheet. She frowns in confusion when she immediately realizes that none of the answers match. "Mrs. Hargrove, I'm sorry but, are you sure that's this is my test? These answers aren't matching up."

"Look again dear."

Alex frowns once more as she once again looks over her bubble answer sheet. Her eyes gradually widen when she realizes that the answer sheet is definitely not hers for the shaded bubbles strategically spell out 'PROM?'. Her heart rate increases as she hastily flips back through her test booklet and turns to the back where she finds a single written note.

_"Since I FAILED to ask you this in person; Will you go to Prom with Me? –Casey" _

An audible gasp escapes Alex's lips as she continues to stare at the brief, witty, yet thoughtful note. She glances at Mrs. Hargrove and follows the older woman's gaze to the door where she sees a very nervous looking Casey standing in the doorway of the classroom clutching a single long stem red rose.

"Oh my gosh, Casey?" Alex gasps as she slips out of her desk and makes her way over to the rapidly blushing redhead.

"I-I um…I was planning on doing this but I was scared that you already had someone to go with, but then I overheard Serena saying that you weren't planning on going because you didn't have a date. I-I didn't know how to ask you so I um, I asked Maura if she could help me out and she suggested this. So…will you go to Prom with me?"

Alex shakily nods her head as tears immediately spring to her eyes. "Oh my gosh, yes." She squeals happily as she throws her self into Casey's arms. "Yes I'll go with you!"

Casey chuckles nervously as she hugs Alex back. "Really? You will? W-wow. I was afraid that you'd say no…"

Alex giggles and shakes her head before she remembers something and turns back towards her teacher. "Mrs. Hargrove, did I really fail that test?"

"No dear," the dark haired woman response with a warm smile. "You scored a 120. It was the highest out of all of my classes."

Alex lets out a breathy sigh of relief before she thanks her teacher and pulls Casey out of the classroom. "You are really sweet you know that?"

Casey smiles sheepishly and shrugs as she hands Alex the rose. "I try, you know?"

* * *

"Oh my god, I'm super nervous." Alex rambles shakily as she tries to keep her hands from shaking and she paces around the living room nervously. "What if she doesn't come?"

"She's going to come, simply because she's going to be dying to see how beautiful you look." Veronica says sweetly before she moves to place a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "Now come on, lets take another picture."

"Moooom…." Alex whines as she shrugs out of her mother's grasp. "You're going to mess up my make up. You are really embarrassing."

Veronica frowns and folds her arms. "I have two be double embarrassing tonight because your father is out of town, so just pretend to like it and everything will be fine." She states before she squeals and hugs Alex again. "Look at you! All dressed up to go to Senior Prom!"

Alex rolls her eyes and folds her arms before she huffs. "Whatever Mom. I don't even know if I'm even going. I kind of had a hard time going to anything else after I was stood up at homecoming junior year." She says in a disgusted tone, her heart leaping into her throat when she hears the doorbell sound. "Oh my gosh…"

"I'll get it!" Veronica exclaims as she rushes over to the front door with a wide smile on her face. Her smile widens when she opens her door to great Casey who is clad in a simple fitted tuxedo with a turquoise under vest and a matching bowtie, all of which matches perfectly to the turquoise color of Alex's dress. "Ohhh the two of you are going to be so cute! Come on in Casey, come, come."

Casey nervously steps over the threshold and her breath is immediately taken away from her when she lays eyes on Alex. The blonde practically looks angelic in her prom dress and Casey feels like it's freshmen year all over again with how tongue tied she's suddenly become.

"W-wow, you uh, you look incredible." She stutters out before she remembers the corsage she's carrying. "Oh, um, I've brought this for you."

"Thanks." Alex replies quietly as she allows Casey to slip with turquoise trimmed mini flower bouquet onto her wrist.

"Okay, picture time!" Veronica exclaims again as she gets her camera ready.

"Mom stop."

"Don't tell me what to do. I am your mother. Now smile!"

* * *

"I'm so sorry about my mom again…" Alex says for probably the five hundredth time as they make their way into the dance. "She can be sooooo embarrassing in the most inappropriate of times."

"I thought it was actually kind of funny. Then I like the speech she gave me about how I'm not allowed to take advantage of you because she's a lawyer and she'll have me sent to a men's prison if anything bad happens." Casey chuckles earning her a glare from her date. "Or not."

Alex narrows her eyes as she begins to adjust to the lighting of the dance. She is nearly knocked off her feet when a body is thrown into hers and she feels like she's being squeeze by a boa constrictor.

"Oh my god, Rena, I can't breathe." Alex squeaks out, gasping for air when she is released from her death grip. "Geez."

"I can't help it! You two are just so cute together! Look! You're even matching!" the blonde squeals as she hugs her best friend again. "Come on, it's senior prom, how many chances am I gonna get?"

Alex rolls her eyes and allows her self to be pulled into another death hug. "This is going to be a very long night then, isn't it?"

The night is full of mingling and socializing and much to Casey's surprise, she actually finds her self having a ton of fun. Every now and then, she'll glance at Alex and she'll wonder if the blonde thinks that they've just come as friends. It wouldn't bother her much if Alex did think that, but deep down, Casey knows that she wants this to be so much more than just a 'friend outing'.

Alex finds her self having a good time as well, with the exception of running into her younger sister Rachel grinding on some adolescent boy out on the dance floor, but Alex decides that she's going to use the opportunity for some kind of blackmail later. Even she and Casey have had their share amount of time on the dance floor and Alex found her self thoroughly surprised by how easily it was to get Casey to relax into the music.

Pretty soon there is an announcement made that everyone should gather around for the announcements for king and queen of the prom. Frankly, Alex really doesn't care as much but she only adds into the crowd anyway because Serena practically drags her in.

"And your Prom King is….Jeremy Saunders!" the student body president announces with over enthusiasm as a tall boy with light brown hair makes his way onto the stage. It's no secret that the boy is the football star and it was completely predicted that he would win.

"I really don't care who wins…" Alex mutters as she shakes her head. "Can we just go back to our table?"

"No! This is one of the most important times in high school is to see who the prom king and queen is!" Serena exclaims as she clasps her hands together.

"I haven't seen your face this bright since Kim won homecoming queen earlier in the school year!"

"Shush! They're starting."

"And now…what you've all been waiting for…your Prom Queen…is…." and then there is a overdramatic pause that seems to last on for ages before the student body president's voice cuts through the silence. "Alexandra Cabot!"

Alex probably pales three shades more as she already is as cheers, applause and mostly Serena's squeals of happiness erupt, nearly busting her eardrums. She finds her self begins pushed on to the stage where she is sure that she looks like a dumb deer standing in the middle of the road just waiting to get hit.

She is vaguely aware of the tiara that is placed on her head, the sash that is pinned around her and the flowers that are placed into her arms. Instantly, her senses kick in and she smiles and waves just like she's supposed to because that's just what happens in all of those cheesy high school movies anyway.

After a rather awkward yet mandatory dance with Jeremy, Alex fights her way through the crowd where she finds her friends waiting to congratulate her. She is immediately enveloped into a massive group hug that is about thirty times worse than Serena's.

"I didn't even know that I was nominated…" Alex states truthfully after she is released from the death hug.

"We did!" Kim states with a smile on her face. "Kind of how you guys knew that I was going to be nominated for homecoming queen but all of you neglected to tell me because you thought it'd be the best birthday surprise?"

"And it was! See look! You even won how cool is that!" Serena states before the music shifts and a slow tempo song begins to sound through the ballroom. "Oh my gosh, I love this song!" she squeals before she takes Olivia's hand and drags her out onto the dance floor.

Casey awkwardly clears her throat before she holds out her hand to Alex. "Um, can I have this dance?"

"Gladly." Alex replies as she takes her date's hand and allows her self to be led out on to the dance floor. They find a spot and Casey gently yet modestly rests her hands at Alex's waist, while Alex drapes her arms over Casey's shoulders as the two settle into a comfortable rhythm with the music.

"You know, this is a little weird. My date is the prom queen and she's dancing with me instead of the king." Casey states with a hint of humor in her voice.

"I think it's perfect. I didn't want to dance with Jeremy anyway. It's too…stereotypical. Blonde preppy cheerleader, popular football jock, sounds too much like a movie." Alex replies before she drops her voice down lower. "I'd much rather dance with you than him anyway."

"You look really beautiful tonight. I know I've told you that all night, but I just feel like you're so beautiful that you deserve to be told more than once."

"Thanks. And as before, you look great yourself. I'm really glad that I was able to come with you tonight." Alex says with a sheepish smile. She glances to her left and her heart swells a little when she sees Serena and Liv dancing in close proximities with Serena's head rested snuggly into the area where Liv's neck meets her shoulder. "Oh my gosh, they are so adorable."

"Yeah," Casey whispers in response as she finds her self utterly transfixed on the blonde when she turns back to her.

It doesn't take Alex long to fall into the trance and she soon finds her self staring at Casey's lips. Swallowing thickly, she then finds her self leaning forward until she and Casey are only a millimeters breath away from each other.

It is Casey who closes that last bit of distance as she presses her lips gently yet firmly against Alex's. The kiss is chaste, innocent and gentle, yet at the very same time, it speaks probably a thousand and one words for both girls.

When the need for air becomes to great, they both pull away with racing hearts and flushed faces. Casey is the first to find her words, though they aren't exactly, structured. "W-wow…that was…"

"Amazing." Alex finishes off hoarsely. She smiles sheepishly as she presses her self closer to Casey and connects their lips once more.

Casey's senses kick in on time this time and she wraps her arms around Alex's waist, pulling the blonde in closer and melding their bodies together. There is a surge of warmth flowing through her and she can't help but realize that in her senior year of high school, she's gotten what she's practically always wanted; the have Alexandra Cabot in her arms and she really wouldn't have it any other way.

**That was super cute! Like…no lie, it was really adorable. Leave your thoughts on this fluff? **


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Here's a lovely update for you! I hope you guys enjoy! **

"Hey, what's going on with you? You've been real quiet practically all day. What's up?" Alex asks softly as she crawls across her bed and settles down next to a rather quiet redhead.

Casey shrugs as she refrains from looking anywhere else other than her hands that are resting in her lap. "What? Oh, I'm sorry. I just…I don't know. I've just been thinking a lot lately."

Alex giggles lightly as she gently combs her fingers through Casey's hair. "I can see that. What have you been thinking about that has gotten you so deep in thought like that?"

"It's just…we're seniors and we're in a relationship. Do you see what's wrong with that? I mean…I just wish we had more time you know? We graduate in less than a month and it's just starting to wear heavy that we're really going to be graduating…it's unbelievable."

"I know. It's so surreal right? But I don't see what that has to do with our relationship. That just means we have more time to spend together right?"

"No, Alex! It means we have less time to spend together!" Casey exclaims before she folds her arms tightly and sits back against Alex's headboard. "I got a letter from the University of Pittsburgh the other day." she mumbles as she brings the letter out of her jacket pocket and hands it over to her girlfriend.

Alex takes the letter in her hands and allows her eyes to skim over it. Her expression brightens and she flings her self into Casey's arms. "Oh my gosh! You got in! Casey how are you not excited about this?!"

"Because…" Casey mumbles as she takes the letter back and puts it back in her pocket. "It's the only one I got and don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that I got in, and I didn't even think that I would even get in to any college. It's just…this is where I'll be going and you…"

"Whoa, hang on. That's what this is about?" Alex chides lightly as she wears a soft facial expression. "Casey, I…just because we're going to different colleges doesn't mean that we still can't be together."

Casey snorts humorlessly and shakes her head. "Because that totally worked out for you and Abbie." She says bitterly before she winces, realizing the error of her words. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have said that."

Alex sighs and shakes her head as she draws her knees up to her head. "No. I understand what you're saying. But Casey, I trust that you aren't anything like her. I…the way that you look at me in this amount of time that we've been together is nothing compared to the way that she looked at me out of an entire year. When Abbie left, she made it clear that she didn't care anything about me. I see a glint in your eyes that I never once saw in hers. Like I said before, just because we aren't going to the same college doesn't mean that we can't be together."

"Where are you going to college?"

"I-I don't know where I'm going just yet. I've gotten a handful of acceptance letters and I can't decide where I want to go just yet. My parents have been trying to help me figure it out."

Casey sighs heavily before she shakes her head disapprovingly. Her body is tense and rigid but she soon relaxes when she feels a pair of soft lips pressed against her own. "How is it you always know how to help me relax?"

"It's a gift." Alex purrs against Casey's lips before she leans in for another kiss.

"I don't want to lose you now, Alex. Not after I've fought this hard and this long for you. I don't want to lose you."

"You won't. I promise you that."

Later on that day Alex takes a much needed deep breath as she approaches her parents in the kitchen. "Mom, Dad, can we talk?"

Richard and Veronica stop what they're doing and glance at each other briefly before they give their full attention to their eldest daughter. Richard raises his eyebrows suspiciously before he narrows his eyes. "You're not about to tell us you're pregnant are you?"

"Dad, I'm gay, you know this." Alex deadpans as she rolls her eyes and folds her arms tightly. "Seriously. I can't believe you would ask that."

Richard shrugs and shoves his hands in his pockets. "I just have to ask and make sure. That's every father's nightmare is for his little girl to come to him and tell him she's pregnant. Then I would have to kill the boy."

"That's ridiculous. Our little girl still has her innocence." Veronica states calmly before a frown creases across her brow. "…right?"

Alex sheepishly rubs at the back of her neck as she suddenly becomes interested in the tiled floor of their kitchen. "I uh…I actually lost that last year when I was sixteen…but that's besides the point! This is about college."

"It was Abbie wasn't it." Veronica states as her eyes narrow into thin slits. "I knew that she was going to be a bad influence on-"

"Mom!"

"Sorry…continue."

Alex clears her throat and takes her much needed deep breath once again. "As I was saying; this is about college. I think I've decided where I want to go. I want to go to UPenn."

It is so silent in the kitchen that a pin could drop and it would make echoes all throughout the room. Richard says nothing while Veronica raises her eyebrows with widened eyes like she has seen a ghost.

"You want to go to UPenn?" Richard questions awkwardly, being the first one to recover from the awkward silence.

"Yes Dad, I want to go to UPenn." Alex replies firmly, letting her parents know that her mind is already made up.

Finally, some of the color returns to Veronica's face and she lets out a shaky breath. "U-UPenn? As in the University of Pennsylvania? But…why?"

"It's actually a really good school Mom. There's nothing wrong with going there."

"B-but…you've got accepted to Harvard a-and Stanford, and Princeton. How could you turn down a full ride scholarship to Harvard to go to U-UPenn?!"

Alex closes her eyes and takes a calming breath before she locks eyes with her mother. "Mom, this is my decision okay? I want to go to UPenn because I feel like it would be good for me. I realize that you guys want me to go to Harvard because it's the number one ivy league school in the country, but maybe that ivy league status just isn't for me?"

Veronica's eyes widen and her mouth practically hits the floor. "But Alex! If you attend Harvard as an undergraduate, it would strengthen your chances of getting into their law school!"

"Mom, I have as much of a chance of getting into Harvard Law from UPenn than I do from anywhere else. I want to do this for me Mom. All I want is your support on this, because my mind is made up. This is where I want to go to college, and this is where I want to start my life as a responsible adult."

Richard clears his throat and nods his head. "If you wish to attend UPenn then your mother and I will fully respect and support your decision."

"But Richard-" Veronica begins in a high pitched squeak before her husband cuts her off.

"If Alex wishes to attend UPenn, then she will because she is at that age where she has to start making her own life decisions. We are her parents, but we can't always make every decision for her Veronica. If that's where she wants to go, then she can go there."

Veronica hesitates for a moment before she sighs heavily. She stands up from her stool and crosses the kitchen where she places her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "You're all grown up…you're my baby and you're all grown up."

"Mom, c'mon…I'm eighteen…"

"I don't care if you're eighteen or thirty two, you're still going to be my baby, and don't you dare ever think otherwise."

* * *

**University of Pennsylvania **

Alex sighs to her self as she gazes around her train wreck of a dorm room. Thankfully her roommate has gone partying for the night, so she can spend some peace and quite time in solitude to get some studying done, but at the same time, it feels far too quiet. She sighs again when she draws her knees closer to her and goes back to reading her legal studies textbook. To say that she is reading some pretty boring shit would be a complete understatement and she feels like she's going to fall asleep on her book at any moment.

"I give up on this book." Alex murmurs to her self as she marks her book and closes it with an audible 'thud'. She rakes her fingers through her hair and sits back against the wall on her bed as she runs through the past couple of months in her head. Every day she can't help but go back to her high school graduation, the day that she had shed more tears than she ever had at any other time in her life. She remembers clutching her best friends as they said their goodbyes. She remembers the entire day that she spent with Casey eating ice cream and pizza, playing video games, going to the zoo, watching baseball, cuddling in the movie theater, making out in the movie theater, making love by the pier. Just the thought of that day alone causes tears to spring to Alex's eyes but she quickly wipes them when she realizes that she's probably being silly.

She misses all of her friends. She misses Kim and Serena and Liv and even JJ that she had even grown to become good friends with before school ended. She misses hanging out with them on weekends and the all-nighters that they all pulled to finish last minute projects. She'll cheering at high school football games with her friends and she'll miss going to competitions with them. She misses being captain and she even misses being proud of her little sister and the progress she made. She misses the look in Rachel's eyes when they were on the same cheer squad though the youngest Cabot would never admit out loud that she was looking up to her older sister. Alex misses all of that and then some.

The rather tired blonde is broken away from her inner thoughts when she is drawn to a repetitive tapping on her window. With a frown, she unfolds her self from her bed and makes her way over to the window, gasping in surprise when she sees her favorite redhead grinning cheekily at her from the other side of the glass.

"Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?" Alex exclaims as she opens her window and helps Casey crawl through.

"I have a little time off so I thought I would surprise you." Casey responds with a grin. "Surprise?"

Alex practically melts at that adorable grin and she literally throws her self into her girlfriend's arms. "That's like a five and a half hour surprise Casey; I can't believe you did that! I was literally just sitting here thinking about how much I missed you."

Casey's grin widens but turns a little smug as she wraps her arms around the blonde's waist and draws their bodies flush against one another. "Well, now I'm here so you no longer have to imagine." She says before she glances around the room. "It looks like college just threw up in this room." she sniggers as she references to the clothes, textbooks, papers, and other various items strewn about the room.

"I've been busy alright? No one has time to busy when you have class day in and day out like this. Besides, part of this is my roommate's fault too but as I said before, neither of us fine time to clean." Alex explains before a rather smug smirk appears on her lips. "If MY dorm room looks like this, I doubt that yours looks any better seeing as you were messy and unorganized to begin with."

"My disorganization is one of my more redeeming qualities." Casey replies before she leans in and connects their lips together. She smiles into the kiss when she feels Alex's hands snake into her hair and try to pull her impossibly closer. "Someone's more eager to see me than I thought, isn't she?"

"Just shut up and kiss me." Alex says firmly as she grabs Casey by the collar of her shirt and pulls her back into another passionate kiss. She feels her self being backed up towards her bed as their clothes begin to add to the already trail of clothing that had been littering the floor beforehand.

Casey watches with hunger as she crawls onto the bed and hovers over her bra and panty clad lover. "You're even more beautiful than I remember." She purrs before she leans down into another kiss.

Alex can't help but moan as she lets her hands explore the solid abdominal muscles that have been perfected by hours upon hours of sports training. She whimpers when Casey breaks the kiss, but said whimper dissolves into a moan when she feels teeth gently but firmly begin leaving bite marks at the base of her neck and down her collar bone. She hisses sharply when those same teeth sink into her bare shoulder, marking her in declaration.

Casey soothes the love bite with her tongue and gentle kisses as her hands begin to slide the straps of the pesky bra down Alex's shoulder far enough until she can reach behind and undo the clasp. She licks her lips in need when her lover's breasts fall exposed to her and she wastes no time in leaning down to capture an already hardened nipple between her teeth.

"Case, oh god…" Alex moans as she tangles her fingers in crimson red locks once again. She arches off the bed as Casey gentle bites down on her nipple before soothing it with her tongue and switching over to tend to it's twin. "C-Casey, please?"

"Mmm, please what?" Casey hums innocently as she releases Alex's breast with a small 'pop'.

"Please, I need you…I need you to touch me."

"Where? Where do you need me to touch you?"

"There…" Alex groans out as she shifts her legs uncomfortably. She gasps at the sensation when Casey cups her through her panties, but it just isn't enough. "There, please. More."

Casey smirks in satisfaction as she hooks her fingers into silk purple panties and drags them down well toned legs. She tosses the garment over the edge of the bed before she slips her hand down between the two of the and runs a finger through her girlfriend's nether lips, already feeling the heat and wetness dripping down onto the mattress. "Ali, you're soaked baby."

"And it's all for you. I-I need you…I need you now baby, please."

More than happy to oblige, Casey more than willingly slips a single finger into her lover's hot seeping entrance. Soon, she adds a second finger, and then a third before she sets out to find a steady rhythm. She alternates between thrusting and making a scissoring motion with her fingers as she drives the blonde beneath her completely insane.

"Oh my god Casey, yes!" Alex vocalizes as her hips involuntarily begin meeting Casey's hand thrust for thrust. She feels her self teetering over the edge as the spring in the pit of her stomach begins to tighten even further. Soon, that spring breaks and she comes hard and rather loud, practically screaming Casey's name.

Casey has to lean down and press her lips tightly against her girlfriend's in order to keep her relatively quiet. She keeps up her thrusting all throughout Alex's first orgasm, and succeeds in bringing the blonde to a second, this one more harder than the first. She smirks into the kiss as she helps her lover ride out said orgasm in a heat of passionate.

Alex feels like a balloon that has just had all of the air let out of her. She greedily gasps for air as she swallows thickly before going back to catch her breath. "Oh my god. You are amazing." She breathes, chest rising and falling rapidly from exhaustion.

"I'll say. I bet you woke your neighbors my little energizer bunny." Casey snickers, yelping when she suddenly finds her self flipped over onto her back.

"Then let this energizer bunny show her neighbors just how loud her girlfriend can be. It's your turn now Babe."

Several hours later, Alex snuggles contently under the blanket and into Casey's embrace. She sighs before she turns over and rests her head on the redhead's bare shoulder; planting another kiss there before she sighs contently.

"So how is cheer?" Casey asks softly as she places a delicate kiss on her lover's forehead.

The sigh that Alex heaves is not one out of content this time, but one of exhaustion. "It's rough. Some of the girls are really nice and sweet while others are complete bitches. There are a few guys too, which is really a change that I'm trying to get used to, coming from an all girl high school squad. The first day we were practicing stunts, I had the hardest of times because I felt like all of them were going to be looking up my skirt. But it's cool now I guess."

"If any of them look up your skirt, I will personally pummel them into the ground." Casey states firmly as her eyes narrow into thin slits.

"I know you will sweetie, that's why I'm not worried about anything. How is softball coming along?"

"Pretty good actually. I actually really like it and I've gotten to know a lot of pretty cool people. My roommate's on the team too, so it's pretty cool having a roommate that I can relate to, you know?"

Alex hums before she sighs once again. "I really do miss you Case. More than words could ever even say. It's like…you're only five hours away, but to me five hours seems like five thousand miles. You know?"

"Oh trust me, I know." Casey responds before she places a kiss on Alex's nose. "But try not to think too much about it. We'll still spend as much time together as possible when we can. I told you that we would make this work and I'm determined to hold it together. I care about you way too much to let you go."

"I love you Casey." Alex says quietly and sleepily before she yawns and closes her eyes.

"I love you too Al." Casey replies as she pulls the blonde closer to her under the blankets. "I love you too."

**I think my time shift when pretty smoothly. Anyhow, as I always state, sex scenes are never really my strong suits but you guys deserve on every once and a while Lol, leave your thoughts? **


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Reading is a valuable thing guys, lol. Do I need to address the confusion about what happened over the last chapter or was everything cleared up? I still love you guys though! **

**I cheated a little on this chapter only because there's so much that I still want to get to and that is unfortunately not in college/law school years. Don't get me wrong, it'll be covered, but it'll just be more general. Besides, we're all dying to get to SVU right? **

**And I must unfortunately say this…**

**Wigler: That's too bad…really…that's…that's just toooo badddd….. ;)**

**Lol, anyhow, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Looking forward to the next one! **

Alex bites down on her lower lip anxiously as she stares at the remaining time on the board in the basketball stadium. Four minutes and thirty seconds need to pass before she can get out of there and that four minutes and thirty seconds seems like it's going to feel like four hours and thirty minutes.

"Ali, are you alright? You seem really nervous about something." Kelsey, another fellow cheerleader asks with genuine concern in her voice.

"No, yeah, I'm fine. There's just somewhere that I really need to be by seven o clock and I'm already going to be late because this game is running fairly slow." Alex responds she continues to nervously bite down on her lip. As a cheerleader, she knows that she can't just up and leave the game, but honestly with how things are moving, as soon as the final buzzer sounds, she is going to bolt for the door.

Kelsey tilts her head in confusion as she glances at the time. "Alex, it's just now a little past two o clock. I think you have a little time if you need to be somewhere by seven?"

Alex shakes her head as she sighs shakily and begins to nervously wring her hands. "It's a five hour drive to where I'm going. I promised my girlfriend that I would be at her softball game today and I've never broken any kind of promise to her. She really, really expects me to be there.

"Oh! I see! That's really sweet you know. That you promised her that you'll go to her game even though the two of you are so far away. That's really amazing and she sounds great. I wish I had someone like that who is that dedicated to our relationship that they're willing to maintain it despite a long distance."

"You're a great person Kels. You'll find that special person. My special person was right under my nose for a long time and then I didn't even realize it. You'll find your match."

The buzzer sounds signaling the end of the basketball game and Alex rolls her eyes as they do the end of game celebratory routine for whenever their team wins. When their fight song is over and the players begin to storm the court, Alex runs over to her bag, pulls on her tracksuit and stuff all of her things into her bag before she sprints out of the gym with out a word of goodbye to her teammates.

Out in the parking lot, she throws her stuff into her car and climbs into the front seat before she all but speeds out of the parking lot. She swears under her breath when she catches the time and realizes that it's nearing two thirty and the drive that she's going to have to make is really going to be pushing it.

* * *

Around six fifty, Casey repeatedly begins checking her cell phone to see if she's received any kind of message from Alex. Her heart sinks when she looks at her phone and see no call or message of any kind when usually the blonde would send her a cute message to let her know that she made it.

"Are you still waiting for that pretty girl of yours Novak?" Laura, Casey's roommate and really good friend asks as she finishes tying the laces of her cleats.

"Yeah," Casey replies lamely as she puts her phone in her bag and stands up from the bench. "Usually she'll text me or something to tell me that she's made it here, but she hasn't yet and the game starts in like eight minutes. Maybe she's just not coming."

"Or she could be running a little late." Laura offers as an alternative. "Try not to think so negative all the time. Don't you think she would at least tell you that she's not coming if she wasn't coming?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just…she's usually here by now you know?

"Hey, I'm sure that she'll be here tonight. Just try not to let it throw off your game or anything."

As the players file into their dugout, Casey scans the stands and her heart sinks a little more when she doesn't spot a single red and blue spot, amongst all of the blue and gold. She sighs quietly to her self and makes her way over to the bench where she sits down and awaits for the game to start.

By the time that it's Casey's turn to get up to bat, the bases are loaded, and even though it's still only the first inning, it actually adds to a lot of the already added pressure. She does a couple more practice swings before she takes a deep breath and sets into position. The first pitch takes her a little off guard for the pitch is wild and she actually has to take a full step back to avoid getting hit. Glaring at the opposing pitcher, she re-grips the bat in her hands and goes back to set.

Casey watches the silent discussion between the pitcher and the catcher that she knows is occurring, she's seen enough of it to recognize what's going on. She grips the bat tighter, and when the pitch comes her way, she swings hard and fires the ball deep into the deep outfield. She breaks out in a grin when she sees the ball go over the fence and she reduces her sprint to a jog as all of her teammates run in ahead of her, putting them in the lead. Casey smiles gratefully at the pats on the back she receives from her teammates but sits on the bench and sighs when she wishes that Alex had been there to see it.

It is literally nine thirty by the time Alex actually pulls into the parking lot of the softball stadium in Pittsburgh, she has a dead phone and a heavy heart. What was supposed to take only five hours took far longer because of a stupid accident on the interstate. She gets out of her car and locks it as she makes her way up to the stadium, where she spots a rather bummed redhead clutching her gym bag.

"Casey, I am so sooooo sorry." Alex says as she approaches her rather disappointed looking lover.

Casey licks her lips and shifts her weight from one leg to the other as she adjusts her bag on her shoulder. "The game's over…" she points out quietly before she angles her gaze at the ground.

Alex's heart sinks once again and she bites her lip out of nervous habit. "I-I know…and I'm sorry. It's just…the basketball game ran later than expected and then there was an accident on the highway. I would have called you but my phone was dead and I…I really tried Casey, honestly I did. Did you guys win at least?"

"Yeah, we did. Coach said that it's by far the best game that I've ever played and I would have to agree…I just really wish that you were here so you could've seen me…"

"I know, I wish I was here too Case. I'm really, really sorry that I missed it. I promise that I'll make it up to you."

Casey shrugs and a small smile tugs at her lips. "It's okay. I know that you really tried…" she says softly before an amused look of realization crosses her face. "Are you still in your cheer uniform?"

Alex blushes as she becomes fully aware of her UPenn attire. "I-I…y-yeah. I um…I came straight from that stupid basketball game and I didn't really have time to change."

"Wow, I never thought I would hear you of all people say basketball is stupid." Casey murmurs as she chuckles and pulls her girlfriend against her.

"Hey, I resent that." Alex replies before she screws up her face. "Ewwww, you're all sweaty and gross!"

"Well I know Laura is going out partying with the team to celebrate so what do you say we head back over to my dorm and you can help me take a shower?"

"Ooo, now that sounds like fun."

Later that evening, the couple is walking hand in hand out of a nightclub after they had spent a little time celebrating with the rest of Casey's softball team after their win.

"Casey, I don't know. What if your friends didn't like me?" Alex murmurs, clutching Casey's hand tightly as they make their way out of the nightclub.

"They liked you Al, it's not like they're really mean and picky people anyway." Casey responds with an amused chuckle. "I can't believe you of all people are worried about what other people think."

Alex's face scrunches up and she shakes her head. "No, I don't give a damn about other people think. It's just that they are your friends and I would have liked to leave them with a good impression of me. Is that so bad to wish for?"

Casey shrugs and tries her best to hide the smirk that's on her face. "No, I would suppose not." she responds, flinching when Alex punches her in the shoulder. "Hey, what was that for?!"

"That was for being smug about something. I don't know what you were being smug about but I don't like that look on your face so I'm sure you deserved it."

"You're always abusing me like this."

"Oh boohoo, call somebody to dry your tears."

Casey continues to pout and rub at the spot on her arm that Alex had punched. "You're a meanie."

Alex rolls her eyes at Casey's occasional childish tendencies. "And you're a wimp if you think that hurt."

Casey pauses before she quickly lifts Alex into her arms with ease. "And for that, I am going to throw you in that fountain over there." she says smugly as she begins walking towards a fountain in the nearby park.

"Oh my god Casey no, you wouldn't!" Alex squeals as she twists and squirms in her girlfriend's grip in an attempt to get free. "Put me down!"

"Nope. I wonder if I toss you in the fountain and make a wish, will my wish come true." Casey responds chuckling as she keeps her tight nit hold on her lover.

"Casey, you wouldn't! Put me down!"

"One…"

"Oh my god, you would…"

"Two..."

"Casey, I'm warning you! Put me down."

"Two and a half…"

"If you throw me into that fountain I swear that I will never have sex with you again for as long as you live."

Casey's eyes widen drastically and she quickly sets the blonde down on the ground with as much ease as she did when she picked her up.

Alex dusts her self off and places her hands on her hips as a satisfied smile spreads across her face. "You are sooooo whipped." She says humorously before she bursts out laughing.

"I'm not whipped!"

"Yes you are. But that doesn't mean that I don't love you."

Casey grins and lifts Alex into her arms once again, but this time, she places a soft, romantic kiss to the blonde's lips. "I love you too." She murmurs affectionately. "I love you and I will follow you _anywhere_."

* * *

**Much, Much Later**

A senior Alexandra Cabot trudges into her shared apartment with her two roommates. She pauses in the living room when she sees the two girls, Crystal and Stacie, sitting on the couch staring at her expectantly as if they're waiting for something.

"…what?" Alex says skeptically as she eyes the two brunettes staring at her from the couch. "What have you two done?"

Stacie's grin widens as she holds up and envelope with what looks to be the Harvard seal and Alex's name on the front. Alex's eyes widen as she drops all of her stuff and practically dives on to the couch, succeeding in stretching across her two roommates as she takes the letter.

"Oh my god," she whispers as she stares wide eyed at the letter. The letter that can go either one of two ways. She just stares at it as she is in shock that the word Harvard and her name are on the exact same envelope.

"Are you gonna open it?" Crystal questions with as much enthusiasm as the other two girls.

"Shhh, I'm having a moment here." Alex hisses as she runs her fingers in disbelief over the envelope. She swallows the thick lump in her throat and her heart pounds heavily in her ears as she carefully breaks the seal on the envelope and pulls the folded sheet of paper out of the envelope. At a snail's pace, Alex gently unfolds the piece of paper and takes a much needed deep breath as she begins reading the leader.

"Dear Alexandra Cabot, I am very pleased to inform you that you have hereby been accepted into the Harvard School of-OH MY GOD!" Alex practically screams and is unable to finish reading the letter as her emotions and excitement begin to get the best of her. "I GOT IN!" she squeals as Crystal and Stacie join Alex in her squealing fest as they wrap their friend into a tight group hug.

"Alex this is amazing!"

"Isn't this what you always wanted?!"

"Oh my god, yes!" Alex exclaims as she realizes the crying but for a very good reason. "I-I have to call my mother, I have to…I have to see my girlfriend! Oh my god you guys, I can't believe that I got in!" and little does she know, her life's journey is just only starting from the beginning.

**Heeheeheeeee leave your thoughts? **


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: I love you guys…..you guys know that right…? Riiiiiiight? Lol…here's the next chapter and I apologize in advance. I hope you enjoy! Hopefully ;)**

Alex launches her self into her girlfriend's arms and squeezes so tightly that Casey actually begins wheezing in an attempt to get air into her passage ways. The redhead staggers a little bit but eventually maintains her balance as she separates her self from Alex and greedily takes in a gulp of air. "Jesus woman, are you trying to kill me?"

"No! I'm sorry, I'm just…I'm super excited." Alex exclaims as she nearly bounces up and down. "I got into Harvard Law! Isn't that great?"

Casey raises her eyebrows before she shoves her hands in her pockets. "Really? W-wow…that's…that's really great Alex." She says sadly as she shuffles her feet a little.

Alex's excitement fades and she looks at her girlfriend with genuine curiosity. "What's the matter? Why do you look so sad all of a sudden?"

"I'm not sad…just…disappointed I guess. I mean…you got into Harvard Law and that's great and everything but I-…I just…I'm just really bummed out now."

"Oh, Casey. I'm really sorry. I've been so wrapped up in my own excitement that I didn't think to ask about you. I'm so sorry."

Casey shrugs sadly and shoves her hands deeper into her pockets. "No, it's fine. I mean, you got into Harvard and that's been your dream right? Hell, you could've gone there as an undergraduate but you decided not to all because of me. You can't let me stand in your way anymore."

Alex feels tears sting her eyes and she brings her finger up to her face to wipe them away. "Casey, please…don't talk like that…why…why are you upset?"

"I'm really upset because…well…there's this blonde girl right? She's…she's an okay person and all…but I just…I recently found out that I'm going to be spending a hell of a lot more time with her than I would have liked you know?"

"What? What blonde girl? What are you talking about?"

"This cheerleader who has been all up on me and everything. She totally wants this you know?" Casey states motioning to her self. "Anyway, I found out I'm gonna have to be spending more time with her and she gave me this today and I just don't know how to deal with it."

Alex frowns as Casey pulls letter out of her pocket and her eyes widen when she sees that it is also a letter from Harvard. She looks back up to find her lover with a well satisfied smirk on her face. "Cassandra Novak, you little shit!"

Casey bursts into laughter and actually has to wipe away her own tears from laughing so hard. "Oh my god, Alex, your face was completely priceless. I wish I could have taken a picture so I could have shown you."

"Casey that…that wasn't funny! I was actually about to cry because you were making it seem like we weren't ever going to see each other ever again! I hate you!"

"Do you really?"

Alex folds her arms tightly across her chest and sticks out her bottom lip. "No, I don't. I love you. But that was a really mean thing to do. Wait…does this mean you got in too?!"

Casey nods her head and smiles before she is once again taken off guard by the slender body that is thrown into her own. "That's your favorite thing to do is to knock the wind out of me, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but you said I take your breath away, so isn't it kinda the same thing?" Alex replies cheekily before she leans into a sensual kiss. "I can't believe this. We're finally going to be in the same place for the first time all the time since high school.

"Yeah," Casey agrees as she pulls Alex over to a grassy area in the commons. "So, when I got my acceptance letter, there was something that I started thinking about. Since we'll both be in Cambridge, and we'll both be at Harvard, what do you think about…moving in together?"

Alex's eyes widen and her mouth falls slightly agape as she stares at Casey in utter silence. The question has rendered her completely speechless and for the longest of times she has no idea of what it is she wants to say.

Casey is a little stunned by Alex's lack of response and she clears her throat awkwardly as she stares down at her hands. "Or…maybe that's not such a good idea…?"

"What? No, no." Alex exclaims quickly as she takes both of her lover's hands in her own. "No, I…I want to, of course I would want to. It's just…I've imagined you saying that and then you did and I was just…I didn't know how to…respond I guess."

"Oh…so…you would want to move in with me?"

"I would want nothing more than to move in with you. We could find our own little place and it would be perfect just for the two of us. We could get a nice cozy apartment and we could have our own space. No more roommates, no more suit mates, we could have our own bathroom and a bed that could fit the both of us. Ooo, and we could have a city view. That would be nice too. Oh, and a fireplace. We have to have a fireplace for holidays and stuff…"

Casey hums and listens intently to her lover as she pulls Alex into her lap and wraps her arms around her tightly. She presses a kiss to Alex's shoulder before she rests her chin there and sighs contently. "Hey Al?"

"Yeah Babe?" Alex replies as she places their fingers together.

"Remember that time that I told you I would follow you anywhere?" Casey hums as she tightens the hold on her lover's hand.

A small blush creeps its way up Alex's neck as she smiles at the memory. "I remember it like it was yesterday."

"Good. Because I meant it. With all my heart. Anywhere you wanna go, and anything you wanna do; I'll be there with you every step of the way."

**Harvard School of Law**

Alex sits calmly at her table as she waits for the professor to begin the Criminal Law Theory course. She takes out a pen and begins drawing little doodles on a blank sheet of paper in her notepad; a habit that she's always had, and probably never will get rid of.

A middle aged woman with white hair walks to the front of the classroom and smiles widely at her classroom full of students. "What a fine afternoon it is to see all of you here in my class on time for the first day, is it not?" she begins with a small chuckle. "I am Professor Stark, and I will be your instructor throughout this course. This course examines the common assumption that criminal wrongs and moral wrongs are closely related and that state punishment should track moral desert in some meaningful way. The course asks whether moral desert should have a place in our understanding of criminal law at all, and what shape moral desert assumes and should assume when it is fashioned as the core of a state institution. These questions will be examined through a study of various theoretical issues, such as justification of punishment, the harm principle, malum prohibitum, self-defense, and provocation. Also, there will be use of laptops or any other electronic device in my class unless I allow otherwise. You may eat and drink as LONG as you pick up your trash after yourselves. You are all adults here and not children so I TRUST that you will behave as such and throw away all of your trash. I would hate to have to put some of you in time out. I expect active participation in my class. If you do not participate, it is you who will suffer from such a choice, not me, because at the end of the day, I will still get paid. Basically what I need is for all of you to help me help you, and then everyone is happy, yes? Now that I have introduced my self and gone through the basic rules of my class, I will now call role so I can match names with faces. So shall we start. Andrea Allen."

"Here."

"Anthony Barnett."

"Here…"

"Linda Blake."

"Here."

"Alexandra Cabot."

Alex raises her hand and says here with a small smile before she goes back to absently doodling on her notepad. So far this class seems okay. The instructor seems fairly nice and the people around her don't look like anyone that she could grow to potentially hate.

"Abigail Carmichael."

"Here…"

Lord has she spoken far too soon.

Alex's eyes widen and her movements freeze as she looks across the classroom in shock, surprised to find a familiar pair of equally shocked dark eyes staring back at her. She quickly snaps back to her notebook and ducks her head down lowly towards the table as she continues to entertain her self with her pen and her note pad. This is going to be a very long class for the first day.

And that it was. In fact, it seems like the class would never end and all through it, Alex could have sworn that someone was staring at her the whole time, which they probably were. Every time she would risk a glance looking across the room, she found those same eyes that haunted her for a good several months before she was able to rid her self of them from her dreams.

When Professor Stark dismisses the class, Alex practically throws all of her things into her bag and is literally the first one out of the classroom, even though she was sitting fairly close to the front. She slings her bag over her shoulder and quickly makes her down the hallway, wincing and picking up her pace when she hears her name behind her.

"Alex! Alex, wait!"

Alex frowns as she pushes her self as fast as she can move with out breaking into a sprint because the very last thing she wants to do is draw attention to her self and her follower.

"Alex, c'mon, wait up!"

Gritting her teeth, Alex realizes that the voice is getting closer and just as she is about to round another corner, she feels a hand firmly latch on to her wrist, keeping her from going any further. She spins around and is met with just the person that she had never ever wanted to see again. There is a heavy pause before Alex snatches away and takes a full step back. "Get your damn hands off me."

"Okay, okay. Calm down…" Abbie surrenders as she holds up her hands. "How, look at you. How have you been?"

Alex's eyes narrow behind the lenses of her black rimmed glasses and if looks could kill, the woman in front of her would definitely be pushing daisies. "You of all people have absolutely no right to know how I've been. Not after what you did. I shouldn't even grant you with the privilege to speak to me let alone even have you look me in the eye."

Abbie sighs exasperatedly as she runs a hand through her long dark hair. "Come on Alex, don't be like that. You honestly still can't be upset about what happened all those years ago."

"You have no fucking idea of what you did. How the hell can you stand there and say that?"

"Or…maybe you're still upset. Okay look. I just want to talk okay? We can catch up? Maybe you'll let me buy you lunch or a coffee or something and we can talk? Does that sound okay?"

Alex grits her teeth together so tight that she actually feels like they're going to shatter in her mouth. Finally, she allows her body to relax as she looks away. "Fine." She says tersely before she returns her glare back to Abbie. "Fine."

Abbie smiles nervously even though she is a little intimidated by the glare that she's receiving. It's almost as if she can feel the stare burning a hole into her skull. "Great. Um…will you meet me at the Brew coffee shop just off campus at around two thirty?"

"Fine." Alex mutters as she folds her arms tightly. "Don't get the wrong idea about this. We are just talking only because I want to here what pathetic little excuse you're going to give me." she says flatly before she turns on her heel and storms away, leaving her very perplexed ex in her wake.

* * *

"I won't go if you don't want me to." Alex says firmly as she putters around the kitchen of their tiny apartment trying to keep her self busy while Casey leans coolly against the counter with her arms crossed.

"I didn't say that I didn't want you to go." Casey replies with a calmness in her voice.

"So you do want me to go?"

"I didn't say that either."

Alex pauses her movements and sighs exasperatedly in a frustrated manner. "Casey can you please be serious right now? What do you want me to do?"

Casey shrugs her shoulders before she crosses one foot over the other. "It isn't about what I want you to do, it's about what you want to do. If you want to go, then go, I'm not going to stop you. Do you think it would help your feelings if you went?"

"It might. It might give me a chance to release some of this anger, but at the same time, I'm afraid of going and breaking down because of the memories it could bring back. I'm afraid of the hurt."

"All I can say is that you do what feels right. If going feels right, then you go and I'll be waiting right here for you when you get back. Unless…would you like me to go with you?"

Alex shakes her head vigorously as she folds her arms. "No. I don't think I'm ready for that kind of fight yet." She mumbles before she sighs again. "I think I'm going to go Casey."

"Then you go." Casey says softly as she crosses the kitchen and places her hands on her love's shoulders. "You really look extra sexy with those glasses on. How come you've been wearing them more frequently?"

"I've gotten tired of wearing and ordering new contact lenses. Do I really look that different with them?"

"You do. It makes you look…powerful." Casey responds earning a playful swat to the shoulder. She leans in and steals a quick kiss before she gently massages the blonde's shoulders. "You go, have your talk, and I'll be right here when you get back if you need to talk about it, okay?"

Alex nods her head and steals another kiss before she heads into the living room to retrieve her purse. She grabs her purse, phone, and keys before she leaves, praying that she isn't making one of the worst decisions in her life by doing this.

***Hides behind couch* leave your thoughts? **


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Yay! Celebration! This is now officially my longest story chapter and word length alike! Whoo! **

**I poked the hornets nest with that last one, didn't I? Lol anyhow, hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I know I did. **

Alex walks into The Brew at roughly two fifteen. She decided that she was going to be just a tad bit early that way she could not only pick the table they sat at, but she could have a few minutes to get her mind right just incase she abruptly changed her mind and decided that this meeting wasn't such a good idea after all. She picks a secluded table towards the back of the coffee shop for privacy just incase whatever conversation they have gets…heated.

The door to the coffee shop jingles and Alex spots Abbie walk through the door. She takes a much needed deep breath as the tall brunette approaches the table and cautiously sits down in the chair across from her.

"Hey." Abbie says softly as she attempts to get the blonde to look at her with out so much hostility.

Alex remains silent for a good minute before she straightens up in her chair and narrows her eyes. "You wanted to talk, so talk. I don't have all day Abigail."

Abbie winces at the harsh use of her first name and nervously rubs at the back of her neck. "Okay…look. I'm sorry for what happened all those years ago, alright? But Alex, it was a long time ago, how can you still be holding on to that?"

"It is not about whether or not I'm 'holding on' it's about the fact that you can sit there with that nonchalant and dumb deer look on your face as if nothing ever mattered. As if you have absolutely no remorse for what you did to me. You have no idea how it was like for me after you left. You have no fucking clue. I grieved for you after you left because I thought you left still loving me. Those six months after you moved were the hardest six months of my entire life because I couldn't function properly with out you. I would sit by the phone and wait for you to call and when you did, I would answer enthusiastically and we would talk on the phone for hours and hours laughing, reminiscing, telling each other how much we loved each other. I would always wait for that. Then when you stopped calling…I just didn't want to accept it. It took me forever to get up the nerve to call you when I did. I called you so we could talk. All I wanted to do was talk to tell you how much I missed you, to tell you how much I still thought about you, to tell you how much I still loved you. But what did you say to me? Tell me Abigail, tell me what you said to me. Tell me!"

"I-I can't…" Abbie whispers as she shamefully hangs her head.

"That's right, you can't, and you know why you can't? Because you're a coward. I called you just to talk and you told me that you had moved on. Not only that, but you acted like it was nothing; you acted like I was nothing. You told me that the relationship that we had meant absolutely nothing to you and you told me that you had never loved me to begin with. You said that it was all just for fun. Do you have any idea of what that did to me? I…I was in love with you. I gave all of myself to you including my heart and clearly you had absolutely no idea of what to do with it because you did nothing but break it. I let you take my innocence because you tricked me into thinking that I was ready. You tricked me into thinking that you were the one who I could give myself to, when it was all just for fun to you. I-I was too blinded by the charm that you used on me to see that all you were doing was taking advantage of me. When I think about losing my virginity to the likes of you, I physically feel sick to my stomach because it was no doubt the biggest and worst mistake that I have ever made in my entire life. The person that you share your first time with is supposed to be the person that has your heart and you have theirs. That is supposed to be the person you love unconditionally and no matter what. That is supposed to be the person you trust with your everything and honestly, then I thought that was you because you tricked me into believing that. I saw a future with you. I saw us going to the same college and getting married and starting a family because I thought you loved me as much as I loved you, but clearly I was wrong about all of that. I was wrong about all of that and I was wrong about you."

"Alex I…I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you like I did."

Alex scoffs bitterly before she leans back in her chair. "How can you say that you never meant to hurt me when you knew what you said…what you were doing was hurting me? You knew that I was in love with you. Don't try to sit there and tell me you didn't know because I'm not an idiot Abbie and neither are you. I know you knew fairly well that I was in love with you. You knew that I was in love with you and because of that, you ran like the coward that you are. The nerve that you had to tell me that you had another girlfriend and that she was better than me and it had only been six months when we had dated for over a year!" she exclaims as her voice cracks on the tail end of her sentence before her tone drops down to a whisper. "I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth, I think I at least deserve that much. Why did you ask me out to begin with, if you knew that you were never going to feel anything in the end?"

Abbie's eyes widen profusely and she sits back in her chair looking a bit winded. "Alex, I really don't think I should…"

"I asked and I asked because I want to know. Why did you ask me out and make me your girlfriend?" Alex presses on, her tone quiet yet deadly.

Abbie hesitates for the longest of moments before she sighs and runs her hands through her hair out of nervous habit. "It was a bet…" she murmurs quietly and shamefully as she feels totally ashamed for how she acted as a teenager. "A couple of the girls on the team dared me to get you to go out with me. I was young, and I was stupid, and I took the bet. I-I didn't know that you had liked me then and if I had known, then I wouldn't have done it. When I actually realized you liked me, I called off the bet, and I actually started to kinda like you too…I was…um…I was too scared to tell you the truth so I just kinda let things go, hoping they would play out. I didn't think we would get serious like we did."

"So…if those girls had not dared you to ask me out…you wouldn't have even given me a second glance…?"

"I was young and stupid okay? I didn't…I didn't ever really think things through and I didn't think about long term consequences. I-I grew to really like you though. I just…I just didn't think you would get as serious as you did. I can't express enough how sorry I am for putting you through that heartache. You deserved to be treated better than I treated you and trust me when I say that I hate myself for it."

Alex swallows the lump in her throat and wills the tears behind her eyes to dry for she will be damned straight to a fiery hell before she even sheds another single tear because of this woman. "I did not think that another human being could make someone physically sick, but you do. You physically make me sick. But none of that matters now because I have someone who loves me for real. Casey works day in and day out just to show me how much she loves me and how much she really and truly cares about me. Even with the little that she has she still manages to find a way to dot on me and spoil me and that's far more than your money or your fancy car ever could. You may have had money, but Casey has a heart and she knows how to take care of a woman far better than you do."

Abbie frowns deeply and her mouth hangs open for a good minute before she clears her throat and attempts to speak. "Casey? As in Novak? You're kidding right? Alex, please tell me you're kidding."

"I'm not kidding Abigail. I'm talking about Casey Novak, the woman that I am in love with."

"But…but how? How could you after…after everything she did? After everyone she did?! I just don't understand…"

Alex chuckles bitterly and shakes her head as she folds her arms. "It's not anything that you need to understand. If I could erase every moment I shared with you and replace it with a moment I share with Casey, you better believe that I would. Besides, I'm sure that you have some gold digging whore in your bed that you blow all of your trust funds on."

Abbie shamefully averts her eyes to the table as the woman sitting before her makes her feel two feet tall. "I've actually been in a steady relationship with someone. I know you may still seen me as the adolescent asshole that broke your heart, and I'm deeply sorry that I did, but I'm not that person anymore. I've seen reality and I've grown and learned from my childhood mistakes. I know that this would be a lot to ask of you, but is there anyway that you could forgive me for what I did?"

"You're kidding right?" Alex deadpans with a blank expression. "How could I ever forgive you for what you did? You don't deserve my forgiveness."

"I know and you're right…I don't." Abbie says with a sigh as she stands up from her seat. "I'm sorry…"

Alex closes her eyes and curses her self for what she's about to do. "Abbie wait…" she calls out towards the brunette as she stands up from her seat as well. "As I said before, you really hurt me, and it will definitely take a long time for me to get used to seeing you again but I think I…I think that I could eventually come to forgive you. Hanging on to a grudge this long is pointless and I've said all that I've needed to say. Just don't expect my forgiveness to come quickly."

Abbie nods her head vigorously as the blonde approaches her. "I don't…and I can accept that. Thanks for even considering giving me a chance."

Alex nods in response before the world's tiniest smile tugs at her lips. "You let your hair grow out some." she points out quietly. "It looks nice."

Abbie blushes faintly as she runs her fingers through her hair that falls past her shoulders. "Yeah…my girlfriend really wanted me to grow it out and she likes it this way so…what she wants, she gets right?"

"Mhm, and is there any possibility that I could meet this girlfriend of yours? Just to be positive that she exists?"

"Maybe one day when she's not too busy."

Alex raises an eyebrow and tilts her head. "What's wrong? You nervous about the thought of having the ex girlfriend meet the current girlfriend?"

"Maybe just a little bit…who wouldn't be nervous about that?"

"Good point."

**Did you guys enjoy this chapter? I did. I know I know, you still don't like Abbie, but she'll come around with you guys eventually right? I mean, she did apologize for being an ass, that has to count for something doesn't it? Lol, leave your thoughts? **


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: kind of a filler chapter. Hope you enjoy anyways! **

"Hey bitch,"

Alex spins around with her mouth open ready to give the person with such vulgarities a piece of her mind, but her face lights up when she is met with a smirking Serena. "Oh my god, Rena!" she squeals before she lunges into the shorter blonde's arms. "Oh my gosh, what are you doing here?"

"Interning. Trying to snag a job at the DA's office when I get out of here." the petite blonde replies with a small shrug. "I guess I can say the same for you, look at you! My little Ali is all grown up!"

"Serena, stop. I still look exactly the same as I did I high school."

"Psh, bullshit. You have boobs now and you actually look like you have a figure instead of that twig you were. You aren't the chairman of the itty bitty titty committee any more!"

Alex blushes a deep shade of red as the taunting comment brings back so many childhood memories. "I see that some things never change when it comes to your level of maturity."

Serena shrugs once again and grins widely. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. C'mon, I was just heading out to lunch and now you can join me. There's so much that we need to catch up on!"

The two walk a short distance from the Manhattan courthouse to a cozy diner where they snag a table and quickly order their food. Honestly, in all of the people for Alex to run into again, it had to be Serena.

"So what's been going on with you? How was life after high school?" Serena asks animatedly after she takes a sip of her sweet tea. "Anything interesting? Anything juicy?"

"You always were dying for gossip." Alex replies with a small chuckle. "Nothing really interesting happened. We graduated and I went to UPenn just like I said I would so I could be close to Casey. Now that I think about it, I know that I wouldn't have been able to bear being any further away from her than I already was; and it was only five hours. But we made it work. She's so perfect you know? Anyway, we both got in to the same law school and then we moved in together around that time. Everything was pretty calm after that, and when my uncle opened up the offer for an internship, she persuaded me that we should move here so I could have that opportunity. So here we are."

Serena practically squeals as an excited smile spreads across her face. "Oh my gosh, that is probably the sweetest love story! Look at you two! Still in love after all this time. That's really great Al, I'm happy for you."

Alex grins bashfully before she tilts her head in interest. "What about you? What have you been up to? Don't say you haven't up to anything, you of all people are always up to something."

Serena grins sheepishly before she sticks her left hand out over the table, showing her best friend the ring and band on her finger. "We got married straight out of high school because we were so in love. I didn't object. We've been so happy here ever since. It's kind of crazy that you could love someone just as much, if not more than you did when you first started right? We're really happy together though and every day I feel like my life is a fairy tale because I really have found the perfect woman for me. Some people say that it's really foolish to get married straight out of high school you know? I used to agree with that, but being with Liv helped me change my mind."

"Rena, that is really amazing. Really, it is. What does she do now?"

"She's a cop at the precinct in Manhattan. I'm really proud of her and everything, but sometimes her job scares me, you know?"

Alex nods her head as she gently bites on her lower lip. "I understand what you mean. So, would you believe me if I told you that I ran into an old flame when I first got to Harvard?"

Serena's eyes widen to the size of baseballs and her mouth falls open in shock. "Oh my god, no fucking way. Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"How did that go? Oh man, I want details."

"It…I wasn't happy, and too be honest, I'm still not thrilled about the entire ordeal." Alex states before she sighs. "I mean, I get that it was a couple years ago that we talked and it was even longer since what ever happened…happened, but you just don't forgive someone for that, you know? Anyway, we had a class together and she caught me afterwards and asked me to coffee. We met and I just kind of…I went off on hr. I told her about everything that I felt after she did what she did, and I told her how I would probably never forgive her. You know that she only asked me out because of a stupid dare?"

"What?! Seriously Alex?!" Serena exclaims as her mouth falls open once again.

"Seriously. Our entire relationship was based on a bet and I can't believe that I actually thought that I was in love with her. Anyway, that day that we 'talked' more like I ranted and she listened, she told me that she was in a steady relationship with someone. I don't know if that still stands but…yeah, that's what happened."

Serena bites down on her lower lip and looks as if she's about to say something but she decides against it. "How did Casey take all of that? The you know, running into your ex thing?"

Alex pauses for a brief moment before she shrugs. "She took it rather well. She really trusts me so when I went and told her that I had met with Abbie, she was very understanding. Somehow, the forces of nature decided to favor me and prevented the two of them from ever running into each other, so that is something I am eternally grateful for. They hated each other then and something tells me that they would have no problem with hating each other now."

"Wow Al, I just can't believe that you would run into...HER of all people. That had to have been really awkward."

"I think I was too upset at the tune to really think about how awkward if was. It doesn't matter that because she said that she was seeing someone. I just can't help but think to feel bad about her girl toy. The poor thing probably has no idea that Abbie is only after one thing and when she gets tired of people going down on her, she'll move on to the next thing that falls for a pretty smile and some money."

"Y-yeah but people can change Alex. I'm sure that Abbie isn't the exact same person that you went out with in high school."

"I realize that people change, but with the way Abbie would act, I highly doubt that she is one of those people. I doubt that commitment is actually something that she would want in a relationship. Emotions don't mean anything to her. Everything is all just fun and games. Do you know how difficult it is believing that THAT could change? After everything that she put me through, I can't help but feel bad for any sad woman that is in a relationship with her..."

Serena awkwardly clears her throat and absentmindedly stirs her tea with a spoon. "Yeah, I get where you're coming from I guess. I just believe...people change."

Alex snorts mirthlessly and folds her arms rightly across her chest. "People change yes, but Abigail Carmichael is most definitely not 'people'. Arrogant asshole maybe but not people." She huffs irritably before another thought crosses her mind. "Have you kept in to contact with Kim any? After I ran into you I'm now curious as to know what she's up to."

Serena briefly has a deer caught in the headlights look before she vigorously nods her head. "Oh yeah! Yeah, we still talk. You were the only one who kind of fell over the edge of the rainbow of love but it's understandable. Casey sounds like she's been nothing but amazing to you. But yeah, Kim...Kim is great. She's...she's changed a lot though."

"Changed how?" Alex asks skeptically. "Oh my god, she's not a prostitute is she?"

"Kim? A prostitute? Come on get serious. But when I say she's changed I mean that she's...she's not as expressive as she used to be. Someone told her that being a dancer would waste her life and it wouldn't really be worth anything, so she got interested in law and she just...changed. Not in a bad way but...she's very sarcastic and very dismissive. She's not afraid to speak her mind anymore and she's gotten very blunt. It's actually pretty surprising that she's this way now but after she broke her leg and was told it would be a waste to try and live her dream...she just changed. I know she's seeing someone now though, so she's happy at least, though she doesn't exactly show her enthusiasm effectively."

Alex raises her eyebrows in genuine interest at the new found information. "Kim is seeing someone? Wow, never thought I'd see the day. Have you met them?"

"I-yeah, I have. They're not exactly what you'd expect but they're surprisingly pretty nice. And as I said before, Kim is happy so isn't that what matters?"

"I would suppose so. I just can't really get used to the idea of her being blunt. She was so adorable in high school you know? Don't get me wrong she was blunt then to, but the person you're describing just doesn't sound like out Kim. But I suppose that you are right, people do change. Casey is a prime example of that. I guess I just never thought that someone could actually love me so much as she does. Most of the time she'll call me just to say hi or to tell me she loves me. Or she'll wake me up in the morning with a kiss and whispered words of affection. She likes to tell me I'm beautiful. All the time she practically makes me feel like a love struck teenager all over again. It's just so surreal that the girl I avoided all through junior year turned out to be the woman I'm madly in love with."

Serena giggles though the small on her face is quite sincere. "You're glowing Alex. With the way you talk about her you literally just light up and it's like you're glowing. It's really cute. When I see other people glowing like that I can't help but wonder if I glow when I talk about Liv."

Alex snorts as she refrains from bursting into laughter. "Oh don't worry, you do. You glowed when you talked about Liv before the two of you even started dating. You glowed when you simply talked about the way that she chewed her food."

"Hey, I did not!"

"Okay so that may be a minor exaggeration but it's not by much."

The two share a hearty laugh before it dies down to small chuckles if reminiscence.

"I really miss this. Us just sitting and talking, being able to make a conversation out of literally anything." Alex states with a warm smile.

"You don't intend on getting rid if me now, do you?" Serena asks skeptically. "Because trying to get rid of me would be a complete and total waste of your time sweetheart because I don't intend on going anywhere."

"I know you aren't, you're like that annoying piece of gum on the bottom of my shoe."

"What else are best friends for?"

**Leave your thoughts?**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: this chapter...hmmm...lol enjoy **

"This is a baaaad idea." Liv says quietly into her wife's ear as she shakes her head in total disapproval. "Seriously. I don't know where you thought this would be a good idea, but it's a bad one and if any one asks, I had absolutely nothing to do with it."

"Hush now. It honestly can't be that bad can it?" Serena

replies with a raise of her eyebrow. She frowns however when she only receives silence as a reply. "Can it Liv?!"

Olivia clears her throat and shrugs her shoulders. "This can either go one of two ways. It can go really, really good, or this whole reunion idea of yours will be headed south of nowhere. And as much as I love you, I'm leaning more towards the latter rather than the former. I love these guys, I really do, but a select few of them have…special tempers, for lack of a better term."

Serena folds her arms and pouts before she huffs. "Yeah, I know, but we all haven't been together since high school. I just thought it'd be fun, you know? Besides, the past is the past and we're all adults now. I don't think that what happened all those years ago would still be an issue."

"If you say so." Olivia responds as she takes a sip from her drink. She glances across the bar and nudges her lover when she spots a familiar brunette headed their way. "We know her right?"

"Kim!" Serena exclaims as she bounds over to her best friend and throws her self into her arms, nearly taking the slightly taller woman off of her feet in the process. "Oh my gosh look at you!"

"You saw me last month…" Kim responds as she shrugs her self out of the rather tight embrace. One would think that she would be used to it by now.

"I know, but a month seems like forever ago."

"Well, it's been long since established that something is the matter with you so I think it's best if I don't comment."

Serena rolls her eyes and folds her arms. "Once upon a time, you had a sense of humor." She mutters to her self before clearing her throat and smiling once more. "So where is-"

"She's coming." Kim resounds quickly. "She had a few more things to take care of at her job but she assured me that she was on her way out. Are you sure this is going to be a good idea?"

"That's what I said..." Olivia murmurs earning a swat to the shoulder from her wife. "Hey! I was just saying. Some things should only happen because the forces of nature permitted them to. Something tells me that this right here isn't exactly one of those things."

Serena sighs heavily once more and shakes her head. "Can the two of you be any more negative? All I'm trying to do is organize a mild mannered get together between friends and the two of you are making it sound like I'm starting world war three."

Kim clicks her tongue before she hums to her self. "Yes, and answer this question. Have all parties been informed of why we are meeting here and who will be in attendance?"

"...no..."

"Serena! Seriously!?"

"Hey, in my defense you didn't tell either!"

"That's only because I thought you did! I didn't think it was of any important until right now!" Kim exclaims, narrowing her eyes at the snickering officer to her left. "Can it Liv. Nothing about this is funny."

"I think it's hilarious." Olivia replies with a grin, deflating a little when she receives a hard glare from both women. "Or not...Jesus...the two of you never let me get a laugh out of anything."

Kim huffs drastically as she drags both hands through her hair. "I don't think I can do this. I'm not ready."

"You could always pretend..." Olivia offers up before Serena can say anything.

"That would be lying. Which would probably only make things much worse in the long run."

Serena shakes her head at we wife's suggestion, though she won't admit to the fact that the thought of pretending did briefly cross her mind. "There's no need to pretend. I'm sure that everything will be fine. Just...try to act causal."

Kim's eyes widen before her face contorts into a frown. "Act casual? You're serious!? C'mon Serena, you know how Alex is! Don't make me go through this."

"No. We will not talk like that. Best friends forever remember?"

"I know but-"

"No buts missy. We are here and we are going to have fun and you are going to like it. Is that clear?"

Kim snaps her mouth shut and narrows her eyes into thin slits when she realizes that it would be pretty much pointless to protest against Serena. That woman can argue with a post and she would most likely win. "Fine..."

"We can leave if you want." Alex says to Casey as they enter the bar where they are supposed to meet their friends. "We don't have to be here."

Casey makes a face as she shakes her head and slips Alex's hand into her own. "Why would I want to leave? I think it'll be fun. Why wouldn't it?"

Alex shakes her head and shrugs in response. "I'm not saying it wouldn't. I just assumed you wouldn't want to. But everything will be fine. I think I spot Serena over there."

"Serena and Liv I recognize immediately. Is it safe to assume that Kim is that scary looking woman talking to them?"

"Casey shush, she's not scary."

"She's scary."

"You only think she's scary because she hated you for groping her when we were fifteen."

"Shut up! Are you ever going to let me forget about that?"

"Probably not."

Casey rolls her eyes and groans dramatically but replaced her agitation with a smile as they approach their group of friends. She's thankful that Alex is there because she isn't sure she could handle it if she wasn't.

"Look at you!" Alex exclaims animatedly as she pulls Kim into a hug. "You look great!"

"As do you." Kim replies with a small chuckle. "I see that someone has finally developed."

There is a snort and a sputter as Olivia begins choking on her drink. She dabs a napkin to her mouth as her coughs begin to mix with with spurts of laughter. "Ahem. Sorry." She murmurs before her phone beeps. "Ahhh, as much as I hate to leave you lovely ladies, I must go."

"Do you really have to?" Serena practically whines as she presses her self into her wife.

"I'm on call. I'll make it up to you. I promise." Liv responds placing a quick kiss to the woman's lips. "Great seeing you again Alex. You too Case. Kim...always a pleasure." She says goodbye before she walks away shaking her head murmuring to her self. "Never have I been more thankful to be on call..."

"You two are still really adorable." Casey states with a chuckle as she addresses Serena. "The two of you are married right?"

"Since we left high school." Serena responds with a grin. "But I'm sure you know all about romance. Alex here tells me you're quiet the Casanova."

Alex blushes faintly but relaxes when Casey places a soft kiss on her cheek. "Yes well, she's captured my heart and she's had it ever since." She states before placing a kiss to the redheads lips. "So Kim, Serena tells me that you're finally seeing someone. For a long time I thought you were anti relationship so I have to admit that I was a little surprise."

Kim smiles nervously as she wraps her arms around her self. "Yeah well...but it takes time until we all find that one person right? The one who we know we'll be with forever?"

"I know I agree with that." Casey murmurs as she nuzzles her nose into her lovers neck, inhaling her sweet scent of berry and Chanel.

As Alex and Kim launch into an animated conversation, Serena spots their sixth and final guest and her heart sinks to her shoes when she suddenly realizes that this was definitely not her best idea. "Crap..."

"Serena? Are you alright? You look a little...faint...?" Casey questions curiously as she places a gentle hand on the blondes shoulder.

Serena vigorously shakes her head at the question. "What? Oh, no, I'm fine I just...I'm fine..."

"I'm sorry that I'm late. I had to take care of a few-...whoa, uh, hi there." Abbie stops short with widened eyes as she takes into account the fact that Alex is standing before her. Her eyes narrow in a deathly manner however when her eyes land on Casey. "Oh..."

"Serena, you didn't tell me you were inviting pigs to this little gathering." Alex sneers as she crosses her arms tightly over her chest.

"I could say the same." Abbie states as her hard glare is still fixated on Casey who is returning it with her hands clenched tightly at her sides.

"Did you bring your gold digging whore with you?" Alex sneers smugly once again.

Kim's mouth falls open but Serena interjects before anything can leave her lips. "Alex shut up..." The shorter blonde instructs quickly.

Alex snaps her head towards Serena at being shushes. "No Serena. She has a hell of a lot of nerve showing her face here. I would just at least half expect her to bring along whatever cheap slut she's bedding just in an attempt to show off. I must say I'm a little disappointed. You didn't feel like your arm candy was worthy enough of meeting real people?" She pauses, taking in the look on Abbie's face before she chuckles bitterly. "What's wrong Abigail? Cat got your tongue? Whore got your wallet? Such a shame that we missed out on seeing what a slut she is for being with you of all people."

Abbie grits her teeth before snaps her head towards a speechless Kim. "Are you seriously going to just stand there and let her talk about you like that?!"

Kim looks around and realizes all eyes are on her. She clothes her mouth and hangs her head as she for once realizes she doesn't have much to say.

"Kim what's she talking about." Alex asks firmly with narrowed eyes that practically demand to know what's going on.

"You have to tell her." Serena says quietly as she folds her arms and stares at the ground.

"I know. I'm just a little blown away at the fact I was just called a gold digging whore, a slut, and arm candy all in one sitting, and by a woman I consider my best friend no less," Kim responds I'm a flat tone. "Abbie and I are together Alex. So that gold digging cheap slutty whore you were referring to is apparently me..."

Alex's eyes widen and unfortunately for others, the first thing that comes to her mind is not an apology. "Are you serious...are you fucking serious!?" She screeches, looking to anyone for answers. "Please tell me that this is some sort of fucking prank that someone thought would be funny."

"It's no prank..." Abbie says with a dismissive shake of her head.

Alex rolls her eyes and laughs mirthlessly. "I can't believe this. Honestly Kim I thought you were better than this. I never pegged you one to settle for sloppy seconds. How can you do this to me?!"

Kim's mouth falls agape for the second time that night. "I didn't do anything to you! What you two had is the past Alex. You're not even together anymore and you've moved on! Why can't she?"

"It's not about her moving on, it's who she has moved on with! You're supposed to be my best friend and now I come here and find out you're fucking with the same person that ruined me!? Do you have ANY morals what so ever!?"

"You're not being fair Alex. Why is it that I'm not allowed to be happy just because you don't like it? I'm in love Alex, the very least that you could do is be happy for me."

Alex snorts humorlessly and crosses her arms before she looks to Abbie again. "If you tell her the truth now it will save time and energy. Go a head, why don't you tell her exactly how you feel about her. Tell her that you're only with her for some godforsaken ulterior reason like a stupid ass bet. Tell her now so we don't have to see how devastated she will be in the future once she realizes just what a snake you are. Why don't you go ahead and tell her ahead of time how it's going to hurt when you get bored with her."

"Alex it's not even like that. I love her." Abbie tries to explain with a small sigh.

"Just how you loved me right? You charm her, make her feel loved, then just walk away from her when you get bored and you make her feel like she's nothing." Alex spits venomously before she turns back to Kim. "I honestly thought you were smart but clearly I was wrong. Just how I thought you were my best friend but now I see I was wrong about that too. Clearly, friendships don't matter to you. I refuse to stay here any longer at watch this travesty flaunt it self in my face." And with that, Alex spins on her heel and makes a hasty exit without word to anyone else.

Casey glances after her lover before she steps forward as if she's about to address Serena. She quickly rounds to her left and swings a hard right hook, that successfully catches Abbie square in the face. "That was a promise I made years ago. Unlike you, I'm a woman of my word." She says flatly before she turns around and follows Alex's path outside.

"Are you alright?" Kim asks concernedly as she and Serena help the dazed brunette to her feet.

"Y-yeah, I...I think I..." Is as far as Abbie gets before she blacks out and falls limp in her girlfriend's arms. Obviously the punch had been more than they had thought.

Casey pulls Alex against her once they make it home on to their sofa. She whispers gentle words of affection as she feels tears beginning to soak through her shirt.

"I-I know it shouldn't bother me, but why does it hurt Case? Why does it hurt all over again." Alex sobs shamefully.

"It's okay to hurt." Casey whispers, placing a kiss to her lovers head.

"I feel stupid. I feel like it shouldn't bother me but at the same time it still hurts. I just...I feel betrayed for some reason. It just isn't fair...why! Why does it still have to hurt so much!"

"I wish I had all the answers baby, I wish I did."

"Please just hold me...?"

"Always."

**Leave your thoughts?**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Once again, another filler chapter. Enjoy! **

"Alex, will you stop and be rational for once?" Serena exclaims as she huffs and attempts to keep up with the taller blonde's fast pace. "It's been how many months since that happened? Far too many right? And you still refuse to talk to her."

"That's right." The newly appointed assistant district attorney says flatly as she keeps up her pace without even bothering to look back. "There is a problem with that for what reason?"

Serena sighs heavily and rolls her eyes as she follows Alex into her office. "It's a problem because the two of you are best friends and-"

"Used to be." Alex corrects as she forcefully slams down a stack of papers on her desk. "We used to be best friends before she went and stabbed me in the back."

"She didn't do it on purpose or just to spite you Alex! She can't help who she falls in love with and you of all people know that trust is hard for her." Serena tries to rationalize in her best friend's defense.

Alex scoffs bitterly as she shakes her head and tears her venomous gaze away from Serena. "So you're taking her side now?"

Serena groans and frustratingly drags her fingers through her hair. "Alex, this isn't a game of sides. Both of you are still my friends and I love you both equally. While I must agree that Kim should have been honest with you from the start, but at the same time, it isn't her fault that she fell in love with your ex girlfriend. Why can't you just be happy for your best friend?"

"Because said best friend basically stabbed me in the back! She knew how I would react to this and that's probably why she acted like the coward her girlfriend is and hid it from me. She knew how torn up I was when Abbie broke my heart in high school. She was well aware of how badly Abbie hurt me. What does that look like when Kim goes and dates with very person who did something like to her best friend? What does that look like Serena? I don't give a damn if Abbie has moved on or not. If it were up to me, she would die old and alone in a cold dark room, but I don't give a damn if she's moved on. What I fucking care about is the fact that my so called best friend can literally be so stupid as to trust the same person twice after she knows damn well of what happened the first time. Some people change, I will admit that, but Abbie doesn't change. Just being in her presence lets me know that she doesn't change. How Kim can be so stupid to trust her, I will never know. That's why I'm upset Serena. She knows what Abbie did to me, but she still decided to jump into a relationship with her. What's stopping Abbie from treating her any differently?"

"Maybe the fact that we aren't kids anymore? I think you're wrong Alex. I think that Abbie has changed. If you wouldn't immediately jump down her throat when ever you see her, then maybe you could actually take the time to see that she really isn't a terrible person." Serena states shrinking and sighing when Alex shoots her a glare. "Look, I just…I think you and Kim should sit down and have a talk. Maybe you could sort out your feelings if you just talk to her and civilly let her know why you're upset. But ignoring her like an adolescent child isn't going to get much done. If you value your friendship at all, you would talk to her."

"Then how come she hasn't made any effort to come to me?" Alex retorts with a quirk of her eyebrow.

Serena rolls her eyes and tightly folds her arms across her chest. "Because she is just like you. She's too proud to come to you and say anything because she feels like she's the one wronged in this situation. If you ask me, I do slightly agree with her. You are being just a little bit unfair. She's your best friend and she's happy, why can't you just be happy for her?"

"I already told you that she stabbed me in the back. Why should I have relatively anything to say to her after what she's done? If she wants to go around whoring her self out to Abbie then that's fine, but I will have nothing to do with either of them if that's going to happen. It's either me or Abbie. It's up to Kim to make her choice."

Serena sighs heavily and her shoulders slump in defeat. "All I can do is try to get you to talk. Hey, do me a favor and take these up to Abbie for me? I was supposed to give them to her like two hours ago but I forgot and right now there's something I need to do and it's really important."

Alex's face screws up in disgust at the files that were thrust into her hand. "Gross, no. You're her assistant, not me and besides, you're going to have to go back that way anyway because your office is down there. What's thirty more minutes gonna do?"

"Come Alex, please?"

"I really don't want to…"

"Please?"

"Oh my god fine."

"Great! You're the best." Serena exclaims with a grin before she quickly spins on her heel and makes her exit.

Alex groans as she stares at the stack of papers in her hand. Some how she gets the feeling that Serena didn't just throw these upon her because she 'had something important to do'. With a defeated sigh, Alex reluctantly makes her way out of her office and sets off down the hall. Maybe if she does this quickly, she won't have to talk to Abbie or anything. When she comes to the brunette's office, she notices the door is open and she pokes her head in before she slips in to find the bane of her existence talking on the phone.

A wide smile spreads across Abbie's face as she leans back in her chair with her phone against her ear. "I already told you that you don't have to bring me lunch, it's really sweet of you to think of me though…I know, I always think about you too…." She chuckles before she looks up and notices a very dark looking Alex lingering in her doorway. "Hey baby, I have to go, I have company, but I'll be over when I get off work, alright? Alright, I love you. Bye…What can I do for you Alex?"

"Serena was too lazy to bring these to you her self." Alex states flatly, dropping the papers onto the brunette's desk without even bothering to hand them to her.

"I see we're in a polite mood this morning." Abbie retorts as she sits up in her chair and skims through whatever it is that Serena has neglected to give her on time. "Then again, when are you ever in a polite mood?"

Alex narrows her eyes at the rather snarky comment and she feels as if she's being challenged. "When it comes to you, the first thing that comes to my mind is most definitely not polite."

Abbie quirks an eyebrow as she stands up from her chair and advances around her desk. "You know, I remember a time when you were all over me practically all the time. You pretty much thought the sun rose and set on me and your world pretty much revolved around one thing; Me. So I find it quite humorous that you are so repulsed by me right now."

Alex swallows thickly as she realizes just how much of her personal space has been invaded in the last few seconds. She finds her self backed into circles until she is pressed against the desk, practically leaning backwards to maintain some of that personal space. "You are standing way to close for my comfort." She breathes, mentally cursing when her voice comes out as shaky and labored which puts her nerves on full display.

"What's the matter? Am I making you nervous Alex? Am I making you uncomfortable? Once upon a time you didn't mind being this close to me, if not closer."

"That ship has sailed Abigail. If you think for one minute that I still have any inkling of feeling for you that isn't hatred, you're dead wrong."

"Then why haven't you shoved me away?"

For one of the rare times in her life, Alex is rendered speechless and unfortunately, the realization shows on her face which is much to the other woman's delight and advantage.

Abbie chuckles humorously as she steps away, finally giving Alex room to breathe her own air. "Your logic humors me. Really. I get the best laugh out of what you think makes sense up against what really makes sense."

"Enlighten me."

"Are you jealous?"

"Of what? You? Hell no."

Abbie rolls her eyes and folds her arms. "Of my relationship with Kim. Are you jealous that I am seeing your best friend after whatever that was we had in high school? Is that your problem?"

Alex's face scrunches up once again and she vigorously shakes her head. "I'm not jealous. Jealous is the last thing that I am. I have Casey and Casey loves me ten times more than you ever could."

"So why does it matter if I'm with Kim or not? What's it to you?"

"I don't want to see her get hurt. I know how you operate and if this goes down the path it's probably already heading down, she is going to end up hurt."

"Fine. Then I'll break up with her."

"Wait, what?"

Abbie shrugs nonchalantly as she shoves her hands in her pockets. "If you so strongly believe that I haven't changed and that's it is all going to amount to nothing in the end, and if it is so upsetting for the both of you because I'm involved, then I'll just step out of the picture. I'll break up with her."

Alex's eyes widen as she analyzes the other woman and she curses when she finds her self unable to read Abbie's facial expressions. "Abbie, please tell me you're joking."

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Abbie responds with a straight, serious face. "If I'm just going to hurt her in the end, then what's the point of dragging this out?"

"Are you admitting that you're going to hurt her?"

"Am I?"

"You're not making any sense what so ever."

Abbie shrugs nonchalantly once again as she absentmindedly walks the space of her office. "I think I'm making perfect sense. You think I don't deserve her, you think she's too good for me, fine, you're right. I'll break up with her and she can go out and find someone who does deserve her. I don't have to deal with this. If you think so, you're probably right. I mean look at you, you're a smart woman, right? You know right from wrong and you have good sense of things. So if you think so, it's probably correct. That way, you can have your best friend back and you won't have to deal with me anymore right? Well I mean, except for here, but I think you and I can work professionally, right?"

Alex looks at Abbie with widened eyes and her mouth is slightly hanging open as she has no idea what she's supposed to say. "You're serious?"

"Dead serious." Abbie replies as she sits back down in her chair with the most serious expression.

"You are seriously not this stupid are you…" Alex deadpans, still a little bit in shock.

"Logically, it makes perfect sense. I will be out of the way, that way you can do whatever it is that you have to do and fix whatever it is you need to fix, but I'm done with…this." Abbie concludes as she gestures towards nothing in particular. "I really don't feel like doing this. I'm done."

"Again, you're serious?"

"Dead serious."

Alex looks at Abbie as if she's sprouted three heads and shakes her head in disapproval before she spins on her heel and leaves. She might think a lot of things, but she doesn't think that Abbie is as stupid enough to carry out that threat like she said she would…right?

**Uh oh…leave your thoughts? **


	26. Chapter 26

**AN: guys my internet is down so I'm not sure how often I will update until it's fixed. Just to clear things up, Alex will most definitely not be cheating with Abbie. The thought repulsed me. Lol enjoy! **

"Alex what the fuck have you done!" Serena exclaims as she bursts into Alex's office just as the taller blonde is preparing to leave for the day. Instead of waiting for a response, she grabs Alex by the sleeve of her blazer and drags her out of her office and down the hall towards one of the conference rooms where Kim and Abbie seem to be having a heated conversation.

"I haven't done anything. Let me go." Alex says flatly as she pulls away and begins straightening out her jacket. Her heart sinks however when she realizes just what's going on. "Oh no..."

Through the window they see that Kim has tears streaming down her face as she continues to vigorously shake her head. She covers her mouth with her hand and shakes her head another time before she can actually get a word out. "Please don't. Abbie please I-I'll try harder. I'll do anything just please don't...don't do this."

Abbie shakes her head and pries Kim's hands off of her. "No. I already told you. I'm done with this. You and Alex can sort out whatever it is you need to sort out, but I'm done with this. There will not be an 'us' as long as THIS is going on. I'm not going to deal with it anymore Kim, I'm done. Just figure out whatever you need to figure out on your own, but just know that I'm done with this."

"Is there anything I can do? I mean I'll do anything, you know I will just...we've come this far, please don't throw away what we have."

"I'm done Kim. Done. It's over."

"Abbie no! Please don't...don't do this."

"Over." Abbie states firmly before she shakes her head and exits the conference room, not even bothering to address the two blondes standing in the hall.

Kim stands completely still for a moment before she places her hand over her mouth once again. A whimper escapes her lips before she is unable to suppress her sobs. She plops down in one of the chairs and drops her head into her hands as she continues to sob.

"Do not stand there and tell me that you didn't have anything to do with what just happened." Serena snaps harshly as she turns to Alex. "They were doing fine before you found out they were together and you're jealousy reigned hell over everything."

Alex groans and drags a hand through her hair. "I didn't think Abbie was being serious when she said that she was going to break up with her. I had no idea that she would go and...I didn't intend to cause any trouble like this, really I didn't."

"What the fuck did you do!" Kim exclaims as she overhears the two women talking just outside the doorway. "Oh my god, it all makes sense now. She just left me because you were continuing to be a jealous bitch! Damnit Alex, why can't you ever just let me be happy!?"

Alex's mouth opens and closes several times before she is able to come up with something coherent and legible to say. "Now hold on, don't go an try to make it seem like I've never wanted your happiness."

"It sure as hell seems like it! Even when we were kids it practically killed you to even think about my happiness. It was your way or no way Alex. When I won homecoming queen senior year, you looked like you didn't even want to congratulate me. Why is that? Why do you always have to be so jealous of everyone's happiness that you have to ruin it? I was happy with Abbie, Alex. I-I fell in love with her when we were in high school but I never said anything because I didn't want to mess anything up. Now I finally had my chance to be happy with her and know why it finally feels like to have her love me and you just had to go and ruin all of it. How is that fair? How is it you get to live happily ever after with Casey yet you get to destroy my relationship as well. How is it that you get to have Casey, Serena can have Liv, but I'm not allowed to be with anyone? Do you have any idea of what it's like to have to go up against you and Serena? I always felt like the ugly stepsister of the group. No one would ever compliment me on anything, no one asked me on dates, no one told me they thought I was pretty. No one ever said any of that to me because they were always too busy drooling over the two of you! Then when someone finally comes along and tells me I'm beautiful, and tells me they love me, you just have to do something to make it all go away, Alex. It just isn't fair. It's almost as if you want for me to be alone for the rest of my life. It's like you don't want me to be happy. You never have. I just...I just wanted to know what it feels like to be loved by someone and to love someone back. I just wanted to know how it felt to have someone to go home to, or someone to hold me at night. Someone to spend romantic holidays with or to just go to a romantic movie with. I just wanted to finally be in love, and I was. Right after high school, I broke my leg during a dance recital. My aunts and grandparents told me that I would be wasting my life to try and get into dance again. They said being a dancer wasn't going to get me anywhere in life. They said, what if I got seriously injured and I wasn't able to dance anymore, then what would I do with my life? They told me that the dream I was trying to live was stupid and I was just wasting time. I was so torn up that I believed then. I let them get to me, and I gave up on my dream. Abbie found me again and she...she helped me. She made me feel loved for the first time. I was in love and I was happy. Then you...you just had to take it away. You ruined what little happiness I had left Alex, and I don't think I can ever forgive you."

Alex is rendered completely speechless as Kim pushes past her and exits the conference room. Done sighs heavily and pinches the bridge of her nose, refraining from meeting Serena's gaze. "Rena, don't...please... I already feel bad enough."

"Good. I'm not going to lie and say you shouldn't." Serena says firmly before she sighs heavily. "You know I love you right? I just...sometimes you do the dumbest things. Please just...get over it. It was a long time ago. Just let it go."

"I wish it was that easy...really I do."

**Later That Evening**

"Are you happy with what you've done?" Casey asks firmly as she folds her arms.

Alex shamefully shakes her head and slumps her shoulders as if she is a small child that is being scolded for some kind of wrong doing. "No. I'm not. I feel like a jerk."

"From the sound of it, you acted like one. Look Alex, there's something I need to ask you." Casey states, pausing as she takes a deep breath. "Are you even in this anymore? Ever since Abbie has come around again, you're a lot more focused on being angry at her than you are being happy with me. Why is that?"

"Casey, you're exaggerating. I have not been thinking about her that much."

"But you have! All you ever think about is how much you hate Abbie for hurting you, but I'm starting to wonder other wide. Are you still in love with her Alex? Are you even in love with me?"

Alex's jaw drops at the question and the look on Casey's face practically breaks her heart. "Of course I'm on love with you Casey. You're my everything."

Casey snorts humorlessly and folds her arms across her chest once again as she looks away sadly. "I sure as hell don't feel like it. I feel like you're jealous of Abbie's relationship with Kim...I feel like you just aren't into us anymore."

Alex gets off of the sofa and glides across the room towards her lover. "Casey, I love you and only you. Please believe that. There is nothing and no one on this planet that has my heart like you do. I love you so much it hurts. I just...the feeling of hurt and betrayal just got to be too much. But I don't care about Abbie anymore. I don't care about who she dates, when she dates them, or why. I don't care about all of that because I care about you and I want to be with you. I don't want anyone else, I just want you."

Casey wraps her arms around Alex's waist and pulls her closer where she rests their foreheads together. "You're my perfect princess, you know that?"

Alex giggles and she's her head as she runs her fingers through crimson locks. "I'm far from perfect, but I am your princess none the less."

**A Few Days Later**

"Dude no...don't even. You would think that she was a lot smarter than that right? But it's whatever. It's not like I really care now." Abbie states into her phone as she talks to one of her old high school teammates. "I swear, it's like some things haven't even changed. Alex is still the same clingy bitch she was back then and we aren't even together anymore. Really, its ridiculous."

Kim makes her way down the hall of the office in an attempt to surprise Abbie at work and hopefully plead a rather convincing case on then getting back together. Just as she is about to step inside, she hears Alex's name mentioned and she decides to listen in for a moment.

"Seriously Stace, it's like Alex has made it her life goal to be out to get me and it's super annoying. I hate that she just can't fucking get over the past. You know what hilarious though? I went out with her best friend to piss her off, then I broke up with her because I knew she'd blame Alex for everything."

"Dude, that's kinda messed up." Stacey states from her end of the phone.

"Nah not really. That whole trio of friends is extremely gullible. You drop a few nice words and a few dollars on them and the next thing you know they're opening their legs for you; and I've had two of them. Probably would've had all three but the last one is married; and even some things I don't swing at."

"Really? You're going to sit there and try to convince me that you of all people WOULDN'T mess with a married woman? Try that on somebody who doesn't know you Abigail."

"It's not about her being married, it's about who she's married to. Olivia would have no probably separating my head from my shoulders for messing with her wife."

"Benson? Yeah, she would definitely beat your ass!"

Abbie rolls her eyes and leans back further in her chair. "Whatever. It was so much easier dating Kim though. She wasn't always on my ass about where I was and what I was doing, which would've made it so much easier to have a little bit on the side."

"You didn't."

"You're right, I didn't, but I thought about it though. She was just so sweet you know? It was almost sickening considering her personality. I couldn't do that to her. But yeah, she was a real sweetheart, a hell of a lay too, almost makes me feel bad I dumped her, but it is what it is. Between you and me, she was a great lay though. I got back as much as I gave with her, that's for sure."

"Can't believe you did all that just to get back at Alex."

"It is what it is. I intend to make Alex's life hell, just because it's what she tried to do to mine. I'm telling you, the best part about this is the fact that Kim is blaming her for why we brine up. Literally, it's one if the best things to witness. Kinda almost makes me want to take her back just to get another rise out of Alex. She practically got on her knees and begged me not to leave so I know she'd say yes in a heartbeat."

"Would she?"

The new voice in her doorway nearly causes Abbie to drop her phone as she spins around in her chair. "Hey Stace, I'll talk to you later alright? It was great catching up but I gotta go." She says into the phone before ending her call. "Hey Kim, I was literally just thinking about you."

"Sounds like it." Kim responds as she tightly folds her arms. "I can't believe I was so stupid as to believe you and I fell for your stupid games."

"What're you talking about? Not once have I ever thought about this as a game." Abbie tries to plead as she stands up from her chair and advances on the shorter woman. "I was thinking about us getting back together, yeah? I'll buy you anything you want. A car, condo, anything, just tell me what you want and I'll get it."

"I want you to go jump off a bridge. I fucking heard you on the phone Abbie. I heard you talking about how gullible I am. Jesus I should have listened to Alex. She was right. You're an ass."

"Let's not get into name calling, alright? This has to be just a misunderstand, you probably heard wrong and-"

"I was standing right outside the door Abbie! I heard you! God I can't believe I actually fell for you! You never really cared about me, did you? All you ever cared about was making Alex's life miserable and you were just using me to do that. Seriously, I just can't believe I was so stupid as to believe you could actually be in love with me."

Abbie snaps her mouth closed and shoves her hands in her pockets. "I did love you. I still DO love you." She attempts to explain softly as she gently rests her hand on Kim's shoulder.

Kim shakes her head vigorously and flinches away from the touch as if she had been burned. "Don't even. I'm done with your lies."

"C'mon Babe, don't be like that." Abbie sighs exasperatedly as she tries to pull the angry woman closer to her. What she doesn't anticipate is for Kim to wiggle free, shove her, and then slap her hard across the face. "Ow! What the fuck!?"

"That was for Alex. She was right. You are a pig." Kim says flatly before she shakes her head and spins on her heel to leave, not even bothering to let Abbie have the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

Abbie scowls darkly as she runs the sure spot on her face. She trudges around her desk and swears when she looks in the mirror and sees the reddening hand print forming on her cheek.

Kim wipes her eyes as she briskly walks down the hallway. She swiftly bursts into Alex's office without knocking and closes the door without word.

"What do you want..." Alex questions darkly, thoroughly surprised when she feels arms wrapped tightly around her and her blazer instantly becomes wet with tears.

"Please. No I told you so, no gloating, none of that; but you were right. I don't need an I told you so right now, I just-I need my best friend."

Alex raises her eyebrows in surprise but she quickly relaxes as she wraps the distraught woman into a hug. Despite how she's feeling on the inside, she knows she needs to be a best friend right now. She'll comfort now and ask questions later.

**Hmm...leave your thoughts?**


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: Short ish chapter mainly because I think I'm catching some kind of cold. I just know that it doesn't feel pleasant :( anyway, hope you enjoy :-/ **

"So, you might be excited to hear that I got a job offer to prosecute white collar crimes at the DA's office." Casey states with a grin as she plops down on the sofa next to her lover.

Alex grins and squeals before she practically throws her self at Casey and envelopes the redhead into a tight, bone crushing hug. "Oh my gosh Baby, that's amazing! I'm so proud of you! Please tell me you're going to take it?"

Casey screws up her face in concentration and taps her chin as Alex straddles her lap. "Hm…I don't know. I mean…there is this blonde there and she does seem like she could be a hellcat to work in the same building with. I don't know if that'd be such a good idea for me."

"Now Casey, do you know how offended Serena would be if she knew you were talking about her like that?" Alex counters with a smug smile of her own before she leans down and captures Casey's lips in her own. "I love you so much, you know that right?"

"I know, and I love you just as much if not more. I don't think you realize just how long you've had my heart hostage and have kept it there. My heart belongs to you and there will be nothing that will ever change that."

Alex wraps her arms around Casey and snuggles further into her. "You're so warm and soft and you always smell like warm cinnamon. You're like a teddy bear."

"Teddy bear? You know, you always have a knack for calling me that. I'm not a teddy bear. I'm rough tough and scary." Casey states as a pout forms at her lips.

"You haven't been 'rough tough and scary' since eleventh grade and even then you were a closet teddy bear." Alex giggles before her tone turns serious. "Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer it if you don't want to but I just…I just want to know."

"Sure, anything." Casey responds softly as she places a soft kiss on the blonde's cheek. "You know you can ask me anything."

Alex nods her head and nervously chews on her bottom lip before she can come up with what it is that she wants to say. "How…um…have you talked to your mother recently?"

The color from Casey's face drains and she breaks her gaze away from concerned blue eyes. She bites the inside of her cheek before she responds with a solemn head shake. "No…no I haven't. Why?"

"I was just…I was just wondering. You don't talk about her at all and you never told me if she got better at all or not. I mean, I realize that you had a rough childhood, but I just…I don't know. I guess I just assumed that you would still talk to your Mom."

"Mom…Mom died right after I graduated." Casey murmurs as a sadness ghosts over her eyes.

Alex gasps and puts her hand over her mouth in shock. "Oh my gosh, Baby, I'm so sorry. Why…why didn't you tell me? We could have went to the funeral or…"

"No we couldn't have, because there wasn't a funeral. She died because she was drunk and she wandered out into the middle of a street full of on coming traffic. When I got the call about what happened I felt…I felt relieved, and then I felt sick to my stomach because I felt relieved. She had made my life miserable for eighteen plus years and I just couldn't stand the thought of mourning over that horrible woman. I…I didn't call for a funeral. No one would have come anyway. I just buried her and that was that. I didn't want to think about it anymore after that. Sometimes, when I do think about it, I feel like such a bad person for not giving it much thought like I did. I felt like…I felt like that since she never did anything for me, why should I do anything for her?"

"Honey, I'm…I'm so sorry. I wish I had known and I wish you had told me…"

Casey shrugs as she finally looks Alex in the eyes. "It doesn't really matter anymore. I just…I wish that things had gotten better between the two of us before she died. Just once in my life I wish I could've felt what it was like to have a real mother."

Alex feels her heart break on the inside and she reaches up to wipe away the single tear that has snuck its way past Casey's emotional barrier. "It's okay to let your emotions show Case. I won't think any different of you if you need cry."

Casey purses her lips tightly and vigorously shakes her head as she takes a much needed deep breath. "I'm fine. I don't need to cry. I-I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Because you can't just keeping putting caps on all of your emotions. If you need to let it out it's completely okay to-"

"I said I'm fine Alex!" Casey exclaims, relaxing and taking another deep breath when she realizes that she shouted. "I'll be fine. Really. It's okay."

Alex wants to protest but instead she settles on sighing and nodding her head. "Wouldn't the world be so much easier if every problem in our lives disappeared."

"Liz would be short an ADA if that were true, right." Casey snorts bitterly as she shakes her head in disgust.

"I don't see anything wrong with that. You know she was cheating on Kim right?"

"No way, get out." Casey says sarcastically with an exaggerated eye roll. "I can't believe you and Serena are actually surprised. Remember, I thought she was cheating on you back in high school. I knew she was capable of it back then, why be surprised when she actually does it now?"

"I guess you have a point. She's just such a jerk, you know? You and Liv should catch her one day when she's walking to her car and just throw her in the dumpster or something along with the rest of the garbage."

"She's your asshole ex. I don't want any part in this. I spoke my peace when I broke her face a few months ago. Besides, shouldn't you be happy you've finally cut all ties with her?"

Alex chuckles lightly and kisses her oblivious girlfriend on the lips. "You have so much to learn sweetheart. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, as the saying goes."

* * *

The two figures dressed in black blend in perfectly to the near night darkness as they enter the parking garage in the dark after hours. The slightly taller of the two is clutching a steel baseball bat in their gloved hand while the other is tightly clutching a crowbar in theirs. They glance around the silent and nearly empty parking garage, going over their surroundings with a keen eye before they advance further. They stealthily approach the rather expensive new edition black Mercedes-Benz and glance around once more just to double check that they weren't being followed or watched.

The taller figure grips the bat tighter in their fist and nods before they step forward and then grip the steel object with both hands. Without hesitation, they swing the bat hard, succeeding in instantly smashing in the driver's side window. The shattering of the glass echoes through the parking garage and it brings a smile to their faces. The shorter of the two grips the crowbar tightly and smashes the crowbar into the once of the rearview mirrors, smashing in the glass instantly and nearly taking off the entire mirror itself.

"Nice hit."

"Thanks."

They then set into a violent frenzy of smashing, bashing, denting, and all around destroying the brand new expensive luxury car. The shattering of glass and the harsh sound of denting metal fills the parking garage that would alert any present person of the demolitions that are taking place.

By the time they are finished, the car is covered in various indentions, the front and back windshields have been smashed in as well as all four door windows. The interior has been destroyed as well with the leather seats ripped and the radio and dash consoles completely destroyed. All four tires have been punctured and flattened, while the head and tail lights have been smashed in and destroyed. The two admire their handiwork one last time before they share a celebratory fist bump and exit the parking garage with their heads held high as if nothing out of the ordinary had even been done.

Not to long after, Abbie yawns considerably as she is finally exiting the office from the overtime that she's just put in to finish typing up an affidavit. She mutters darkly to her self as she reaches into her pocket to retrieve her car keys, taking note of the fact that nearly everyone has left the office for the day. As she is walking to her parking spot, she gets this strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she just chalks it up to the fact that she's probably tired and maybe a little hungry.

Just as she is about to pull her keys out of her pocket, to unlock her car, she pales at least five shades when she walks upon the destroyed monstrosity That used to be her brand new car. Her jaw drops and her eyes widen as her heart practically stops beating in her chest right then and there. It actually takes a second or two for her to catch her breath and for her mind to fully comprehend what has taken place.

"No. No. No. Oh my god, no. This cannot be happening right now. Damnit!" Abbie exclaims as she drops all of her stuff and rushes over to examine the damage of done to her car. She roughly rakes her hands through her hair before she puts her hand over her mouth still completely in shock. "Fucking shit! What the fuck! Oh my…Shit! I cannot fucking believe this!" she exclaims, cursing the people that destroyed her car who are now nothing more than vapors in the wind.

**Uhhhh ohhhh….nothing like having your brand new expensive luxurious car vandalized right? Lol, leave your thoughts? **


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: Lol, it's taken me long enough right? Well, my sister has banished me to sick person's land which means that I'm not allowed to get up and do anything fun. Technically, I'm not even supposed to be on my computer, but like I listen :P anyway, enjoy!**

"You know, I never was good at this game." Casey states as she shoots the basketball, not the least bit surprised when the ball bounces pitifully off of the rim.

Olivia can't help but laugh as she catches the ball and easily sinks it into the hoop, drawing a satisfying 'swish' sound from the net. "Yeah, you might wanna stick to softball." She says with humor laced in her voice before she passes the ball back to the taller woman.

Casey rolls her eyes as she catches the ball and dribbles it against the pavement before she attempts to shoot it at the hoop once more. The ball bounces against the rim before it tips into the hoop, before falling to the ground. "Ha! I got one!" she declares before she snickers. "What is that, one shot out of like fifty" she questions with a quirk of her eyebrow.

"As I said before, you may just wanna stick to playing softball." Olivia responds as she swipes the ball away from Casey again. "It's a shame that you aren't good at basketball though. You're tall enough to play, that's for sure."

"Well clearly my height does nothing for me when it comes to the sport of basketball." Casey replies with a shake of her head. "I'm not going to play one on one with you just so you can beat me into the ground and then gloat about it for the rest of your life."

"Aw, c'mon Case, it'll be fun. I'll go easy on you."

"No way Liv. Try that on someone who doesn't know you. You're definition of going easy on me is you scoring sixty points on me instead of seventy."

Olivia sighs drastically as she continues to dribble the ball. "Fine, then let's play something simple like H-O-R-S-E or Around the World." she suggests, taking a shot from where she's standing just for the hell of it.

Casey rolls her eyes as she catches the ball and passes it back to the smirking detective. "Fine. But you better adhere to your promise and go easy on me." she warns, pausing when she sees a rather angry figure approaching them from the distance. "Oh no."

"What?" Liv questions curiously as she spins around and sees Abbie approaching them. She manages a smile and holds up the basketball. "Hey Abbs, wanna shoot? For old times sake?"

"No." the fuming brunette retorts as she heads straight for Casey and immediately invades her personal space. "I know it was you that trashed my car, Novak."

Casey frowns and immediately shoves Abbie away from her. "Back off. I didn't do anything to your stupid car. I don't even know what you're talking about."

"Right, and like I'm gonna believe an asshole like you."

"Look who's calling who an asshole. I didn't fucking touch your car. Now I would appreciate it if you would get out of my face."

"What're you gonna do about it, hit me?"

"Didn't stop me a few months ago when I nailed you in the face."

Abbie scowls at the memory and she clenches her teeth together tightly in anger. "Incase you've forgotten, that was a cheap little girl's shot. You shouldn't take so much victory in a sucker punch Novak." She sneers irritably. "You know that you don't have it in you to fight me for real."

Casey rolls her eyes and folds her arms as she takes a step back to regain some of her personal space that was previously invaded. "Yeah, right. You weren't even worth that one punch, but I made a promise to Alex; and unlike you, I know how to keep a promise that I make to a woman."

"You trying to get at something there?"

"As a matter of fact I am. You have no idea how to treat a good woman that you have in your life. God knows how many hearts that you've walked all over just for the hell of it. You walk around here with your money, and your fancy cars, and you think that it's your world and every one else is just living in it. Newsflash Abbie, it doesn't work like that. It's not fair that you use all of that to take advantage of people. You flaunt all of that around just to get someone to sleep with you and when you're done with them, you toss them out to the side like they never even mattered to you, because in truth, they never really did. You see Abigail, I actually feel bad for you because you have absolutely no idea of what it feels like to be in love. You don't know how it feels to fall asleep next to the woman you love with excitement in your heart because you know that you get to see her beautiful face when you wake up next to her the following morning. You don't know what it feels like to take romantic walks in the evening with your woman and then just sit on a bench holding hands, not talking about anything, because you're so content, you don't need words to express your feelings. You don't know how it feels to just be able to sit and gaze into your lover's beautiful eyes or sitting and listening to her tell you how her day was. You don't have any one to go home to at night and you know why? Because you hurt literally everyone who steps into your vicinity. I don't know what your deal is or why you act like you do, but you shove everyone away, you treat them like crap, or even both. That's why you're alone because you just don't have any inkling of a care for anyone else other than your self. And you know what? That actually makes you extremely pathetic. So yeah, I don't have nearly as much money as you do, I don't have all of your expensive things; houses, cars, clothes and other stuff, but I do have something that you don't have; I have true love and with that, I really don't need any other extra stuff. I have someone who is there for me when I go home at night and sadly for you, that someone is the amazing girl that you tossed away all those years ago. I don't know what happened to your car but I'm not going to lie and say that you didn't deserve it."

"You prick!" Abbie screeches as she lunges forward and tackles the redhead to the ground. "No one fucking talks to me like that! Especially not after what you did to me!"

Casey growls as she flips them over and pins Abbie to the ground. "I don't know what you're talking about! I never did anything to you!" she replies before she finds her self flipped onto her back once again but this time more harshly as hands clamp down around her throat.

Abbie sees blood red as she tightens her grip on the redhead's neck preparing to bash her head into the pavement before she finds her self lifted of the ground in a mess of flailing limbs. "Let me go!" she yells, struggling against the detective restraining her. "You killed her!"

"What the hell are you talking about!" Casey questions with a frown as she stands up from the ground, rubbing her neck. "Seriously!"

"You-you killed her and now you don't even remember! It was YOUR FAULT! YOU killed her!"

"I didn't kill anyone!"

"YOU DON'T EVEN REMEMBER! HOW COULD YOU NOT REMEMBER?!"

Casey roughly drags her hands through her hair as she takes a full step back. "I didn't…" she trails off as it finally clicks in her mind on what Abbie is talking about. "A-Abbie, that was…that was years ago and it was an accident..."

Angry tears flow down the brunette's cheeks as she continues to struggle against Olivia to get free. "You were supposed to be my best friend and I trusted you! I trusted you!"

"We were in high school Abbie, mistakes happen! You know it was an accident! Please tell me you understand that!"

"You killed her! And I have never forgiven you." Abbie screeches as she finally breaks out of Olivia's hold. "And I never will." She concludes harshly before she storms back the direction she came leaving the two women in her wake.

Olivia raises her eyebrows in confusion and stares after the angry attorney before turning back to Casey. "What's…what was she talking about?"

Casey opens her mouth to respond before she closes it and settles on shaking her head. "Nothing…she wasn't talking about anything…" she mumbles before she picks up the basketball once again. "C'mon, you said we were gonna play right?"

"Casey I want-"

"Not now Liv. Please. Just not now."

Meanwhile…

"Why do the two of you look like that?" Alex asks eying her two best friends with genuine curiosity.

"Look like what?" Kim answers innocently while Serena continues to wring her hands and nibble on her bottom lip. "Think you're just imagining things, Al…"

Alex hesitates for a moment before she nods her head. "Right…so…there's been something I've been meaning to talk to you guys about. Something important."

"Oh my gosh, are you breaking up with us?" Serena chimes in sarcastically with a high pitched school girl squeal. "Say it isn't so! I don't think my heart can handle it!"

Alex rolls her eyes at Serena's tendencies to be a little bit of a sarcastic tease. Clearly she has been hanging around Kim far too long. "On a more serious note, I think I'm going to ask Casey to marry me you guys."

The statement renders the other two women completely speechless as they sit there with their jaws practically hitting the table. The silence is like that for a long moment before Serena is the first one to recover. "Oh my god, Ali, that's amazing!" she squeals excitedly.

"Yeah, it's great." Kim mutters quietly as she looks down and begins absentmindedly pushing her food around her plate with her fork.

"I really think I'm gonna do it." Alex continues on with a school girl smile on her face. "I've been looking at rings and everything, and I think I've found the perfect one for her. I just…I don't have any idea of how I'm gonna do it ya know?"

Serena vigorously nods her head at the rhetorical question. "I know what you mean," she responds excitedly before a dreamy smile spreads across her face. "It was so simple how Liv asked me to marry her, but it was just so romantic at the same time. She took me to dinner and then she drove me out to the lake where we sat on the pier with our feet dangling in the water. The moon was full and low and it was so beautiful that it cast this sparkle out over the water. She was so nervous about something and when I asked her what was wrong, she pulled out this little box and told me how much she loved me. Then she asked me if I would be her wife and I said yes."

"That's really romantic." Alex says with a smile before she ducks her head. "But I don't think that I could come up with anything that's romantic like that. I want it to be romantic, but I don't want it to be simple or lame, you know? I want to really surprise her and blow her mind."

"Oh don't worry, we'll help you come up with something good! Won't we Kim?" Serena exclaims, nudging the quiet woman next to her.

Kim looks up and manages a tiny smile before she nods her head. "Yeah sure." She responds quietly before she turns her attention back to absently picking at her food.

The act doesn't go unnoticed by Alex and she opens her mouth to question before she finds her self pulled into more marriage conversations by Serena. She'll make a point to ask about whatever it is later.

***CHUNG CHUNG* hehehehe, I have that downloaded as my text tone on my phone. I felt like it was appropriate for this point in the story. Leave your thoughts? **


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: Oh no, you guys are gonna HATE me, lol. But just know that I do it out of my love for my lovelies :) lol, enjoy!**

By the time Casey makes it back home, she is feeling just a little bit more than exhausted. She sighs to her self as she steps through the door, kicking her heels off with the sole purpose of not doing anything else for the evening except getting cozy with a glass of wine and curling up with her girlfriend to watch some overly sappy romantic comedy if she has to. Anything to get away from the exhaustion of the day.

However, she is thoroughly surprised when she steps into the living room to find that it's dark and empty. "Alex? Baby, are you home?" she calls out into the darkness curiously, only to be met with silence as her response. Shaking her head, she realizes that maybe Alex is overexerting her self at the office again and maybe she'll be home later than usual. So much for curling up with her girlfriend and that much needed glass of wine.

Sighing to her self once again, Casey flips on the light and makes her way into the kitchen. As she moves towards the refrigerator to find something to snack on, she frowns when she sees a little note taped to where the handle is. Letting her curiosity get the better of her, she picks up the note and lets her eyes glance over the printed lettering.

"Change into something comfortable and casual, yet eloquent. Then make your way downstairs in front of the complex." She reads aloud before she turns the card over to see if there is anything on the back but she deflates when she sees nothing. "Alright. I'll buy the cryptic message. Whatever it maybe."

Casey then makes her way to the bedroom where she immediately makes a beeline for the closet. Tapping her fingers against her lips, she settles for wearing a blue turtle neck sweater with her favorite pair of black jeans. She slips her feet into her low heeled boots and grabs her jacket before she makes her way back downstairs again.

As she moves towards the counter to where she had dropped her keys out of habit, she notices another note in the exact spot where she put her car keys, frowning when she wonders just how she missed it.

"You won't need your keys :)" the note reads which causes Casey to roll her eyes and pick up her keys anyway. "Yeah, right, like I'm going to leave my car keys in the house." She mumbles out loud as she heads for the door, pausing when she finds another note taped over the peephole. "Stop whining and go downstairs." She reads aloud, growling under her breath when she snatches the note off of the door and locks up again.

Casey makes her way downstairs like she was first instructed and she steps out onto the street, so see Serena waiting for her by her car. She narrows her eyes in suspicion as she walks across the sidewalk and approaches the blonde who waves at her excitedly. "Serena, what's going on?"

Serena grins widely and shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. "I dunno." She answers before opening the passenger side door for her self before tossing Casey her car keys. "We're going for a ride apparently."

Casey rolls her eyes and moves around to the driver's side where she gets into the car. "Why do I feel like you're hiding something from me?" she asks skeptically as she clicks her seatbelt and turns to stare accusingly at the smug looking blonde in question. "What is it that you aren't telling me?"

"Why Casey! I am wounded that you would think that I am hiding something from you." Serena gasps as she puts her hand over her heart. "Really. It hurts. Now drive. I'm getting hungry."

"Hungry?" Casey repeats with a small frown. "And pray tell, how am I supposed to know where I'm going."

Instead of responding verbally Serena simply nods her head towards the dashboard before she sits back in her seat with the same smug look on her face as before.

Casey purses her lips before she notices a familiar looking card resting on the dash. She picks up the card and reads over it before she recognizes the note as an address. Sighing once again, she puts the address into the GPS system and pulls away from the curb, still wondering what the hell she is getting her self into.

"So, I don't suppose I could bribe you into telling me what's going on." She says as they are finally in route to the secret location.

"Unfortunately for you, you cannot." Serena replies with a small giggle. "Just try to relax. Everything will be fine, so you don't really have anything to worry about. Just trust me."

"That's what I'm afraid of…"

About twenty minutes later, Casey finds her self pulling into the parking lot of her favorite Mexican restaurant. Her eyes widen briefly before she turns towards Serena who has already gotten out of the car. She quickly follows suit and immediately starts questioning the blonde once again. "Serena, now you have to tell me what's going on. What are we doing here?"

"Again, I'm wounded. You don't want to have dinner with me?" Serena gasps once again before she laughs and starts heading towards the door. "C'mon. We have a table waiting."

Casey isn't going to lie and say that she isn't ecstatic about eating at her favorite restaurant. Her mouth waters immediately as they are seated at their table and a menu is placed in front of her. She thanks the waitress quietly before she picks up the menu and begins browsing over what she wants.

"So, how was your day today?" Serena asks casually once they have ordered their food.

"How can a day be so uneventful but tiring at the same time?" Casey questions before she sits back in her chair and sighs heavily. "It was okay, I guess. As I said before, nothing really happened today. What about you?"

Serena thinks for a moment before she shakes her head and shrugs. "Nothing that I can really think of. Abbie has taken some sort of leave of absence so it's just been me and Kim recently, which is nice."

Casey twiddles her thumbs nervously before she takes a deep breath and nods her head. "Yeah, well. Sounds like it's been nice. Quiet…peaceful."

"Yeah. I mean don't get me wrong, she is definitely an asshole, but she's unfortunately an asshole that knows how to do her job."

"Aren't those the worst kind? Simply because you can't get rid of them because they're useful?"

"Yeah, that is exactly my point."

The two laugh and share nice conversation over their dinner. It isn't until the check comes and Casey reaches for her credit card, that Serena stops all of their conversation.

"Don't worry about it, it's covered." The blonde says before she quickly slips the waiter a black card, knowing that Casey would recognize it if she saw it.

"Serena, you really didn't have to-"

"No, Casey, don't. Really. It's no problem at all."

Realizing that arguing with Serena would be futile, Casey sits back in her chair and folds her arms waiting for the waiter to return with the receipt and the card. She is taken off guard however when a different waiter returns, seeming to address her instead.

"Ma'am? For you." He says nicely before he offers the redhead what appears to be another note card. He nods politely before he bids her a good evening and steps away.

Serena has to hide her smirk before she sighs contently and crosses one leg over the other. "Well, Casey, it was indeed nice having dinner with you. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your evening."

Casey frowns at the statement, taking note of how it sounds much like a goodbye. "What? You mean you aren't gonna take me home?" she asks curiously, before she looks towards the note card in her hand. "Make your way outside." She reads once again before she sighs and stands up and shrugs on her jacket. "Of course not…you have a good evening Serena…with whatever this is."

Upon making her way out of the restaurant, Casey glances around before she spots Kim leaning against the hood of her car, seemingly waiting for someone. She sighs heavily and shakes her head before she reluctantly stalks over to the waiting woman. "Let me guess. You're my next clue…"

"Don't know what you're talking about." Kim grins before she produces a bouquet of a dozen roses and hands them over to the curious redhead. "For you. Now get in the car"

"…Thanks…?" Casey responds awkwardly as she gets in the car before she accepts the roses, still eying them curiously. "Um, listen, Kim, I'm really flattered but, you do realize that I'm.

Kim's expression changes immediately before she vigorously shakes her head. "Whoa. No. Definitely not. Just no." She says quickly before she continues to shake her head. "You aren't my type. At all. Plus, I still haven't forgiven you for the legacy dance."

Casey's face turns fire engine read before she purses her lips into a tight thin line. "How many times am I going to have to apologize for that? I said I was sorry. C'mon, we were in high school. It was a long time ago."

"Yeah well, try having the whole student body know that you were felt up in a corner by the school sleaze…"

"You don't still think I'm a sleaze, do you?"

There is a long pause before Kim sighs heavily. "No, I don't suppose that I do."

Casey grins before she reaches over and pinches the dark haired woman. "Aw, look at Kimmy, actually saying something nice for a change."

Kim rolls her eyes at the unnecessary use of the pet name, before she glares at the redhead out of the corner of her eye. "Shut up and smell your flowers, Novak; before I put you out of my car and make you walk to where we're going."

"Where are we going?"

"Smell the damn roses…"

Casey chuckles to her self and does as she's told, only to find her self poked in the nose by the corner of a note card. She pulls out the note card and sighs when she sees that it's another note.

"Go to a place where you spend a great deal of your time. Your clue is in your presence :)" she reads out loud before she looks up and narrows her eyes. "Are the roses my clue? I do go to the park a lot to run in the mornings and there are flowers in the park. Then again, I do spend a lot of time at the batting cages, but I don't see anything in here that could be a clue for that. I can't think of anything else that could…" she trials off before she turns towards Kim who is impatiently tapping her fingers against her steering wheel. "Greyleck, are you really my clue…?"

"I still don't know what you're talking about." Kim responds with a straight face and a nonchalant shrug.

Casey rolls her eyes before she reads over the note card once more. "Take me to the office." She says finally trusting her gut instinct and hoping that she isn't wrong. She continues to gaze lovingly at the roses in her hands and she an inkling over just where, more importantly, who they came from.

To entertain her self, Casey spends the entire ride to the office, finding ways to annoy Kim. On several occasions, she finds her self nearly put out the car, but that still doesn't mean she can't have any fun. For some reason, it is just so much fun to annoy the rather blunt brunette.

As soon as they pull into the parking garage, Casey gets out of the car for fear of being potentially thrown out. She grins innocently, before she makes her way towards the entrance, not the least bit of surprised when she finds the lobby empty.

"Kim, I don't know where to go now." Casey states flatly, frowning when she doesn't receive a response. "Kim?" she calls out again, this time spinning around only to find her self completely alone. "Great…"

Tapping her finger against her chin, Casey then notices what looks like a note on one of the elevator doors that reads. 'Open me'. She presses the button calling the lift. When the doors open, she steps inside and notices another note pointing to the button of the sixth floor reading 'press me'.

Casey finds her self pacing back and forth in the elevator as the lift continues it's painfully slow ascent. Finally, the elevator dings upon reaching the sixth floor, and when the doors open, she immediately notices a pile of red rose petals at her feet that lead into a trail down the hall.

"What is this…?" Casey says out loud with a humorous laugh as she begins following the trail of roses that eventually lead her to her office. Frowning again, she opens the door and immediately gasps upon seeing candles strategically placed all around the room, complete with her girlfriend right in the middle, down on one knee. She opens her mouth to speak, but only finds her voice to come out in a hoarse whispers. "Baby? W-what is all this?"

"This is me, showing you how much I love you." Alex responds with a smile before she takes a shaky deep breath and begins. "Casey, I love you more than I love life it self. I love you more than the air that I breathe, because with out you, there would be no reason for me to breathe any longer. When I first met you, I never thought that you could be the one that would capture my heart the way that you have. As we grew up, I never knew that it would be you that would be the one for me. I know that we have had our fair share of differences in our lives, but those differences are just one of the things that make us what we are. I cannot express how thankful I am that I have you in my life and I can't express how thankful I am that you love me the way that I love you. I would want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you, continuing to love you more with each passing day. I want to grow old with you, have a family with you and all around just be with you forever. So basically, what I am asking you right here is, Casey Michelle Novak, would you do me the highest honor in the world by becoming my wife?"

**Oooo I know, I am the WORST, leave your thoughts? **


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year and I hope you all have/are having/have had an AMAZING New Year :3 this is kind of a best friends chapter, but who doesn't love those? I hope you all enjoy! **

Tears spring to Casey's eyes as she clasps both of her hands over her mouth. She doesn't really label her self to be a very emotional person, but at the moment, it takes everything with in her not to burst into tears right on the spot. She remembers that she once promised her self that if anyone ever proposed to her that she wouldn't cry because it seemed like too much of a girly thing to do. Not once did she ever picture her self crying because of a proposal, but now then again, she never really ever once did picture anyone proposing to her.

"Al…Baby, I-I don't know what to say…" the redhead stammers, her eyes wet with unshed tears as her voice comes out as a squeaky attempt at a whisper.

Alex chuckles quietly and a nervous smile flits across her face as she still remains kneeling on one knee. "Um, well, I was, uh, I was kinda hoping that you'll say yes?" she offers carefully with a small tilt of her head.

It isn't until then that Casey realizes that she hasn't answered. She has been far to caught up in the emotional moment that she seemingly wants to last for a life time. "Yes," she whispers as she shakily begins to nod her head.

"Y-yes?" Alex repeats with a small frown at the sudden answer that has taken her completely off guard.

"Yes," Casey says once again as she finally begins to gain control over her emotions. "Yes, I-I'll marry you."

Alex's confused, yet nervous frowns morphs into a wide grin as her shaky hands slip the diamond ring onto Casey's finger. She admires the ring, gently running her fingers over her lover's knuckles before she stands up and finds her self pulled into a deep, firm kiss that she is eagerly ready to return.

After a moment of nearly making out in the middle of Casey's office, Alex frowns as she tastes a rather salty sensation on her tongue. She pulls away from the kiss and she is a little surprised to see her new fiancée with tears pouring down her cheeks.

"Baby? What's wrong?" she asks worriedly as she gently wipes away Casey's tears with her thumbs. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no of course not, that's the thing." Casey responds and chuckles shamefully when her voice continues to crack with emotion. "Everything is just so perfect. The proposal, the ring, you; it's all just so perfect. I once promised my self that if anyone ever proposed to me that I wasn't gonna cry, but everything you did is just so perfect, I—I just can't help it. I'm so lucky to have you Baby. Really. There's no one else in the world that I would rather be with, that I would rather share the rest of my life with."

Alex grins as she feels her own tears beginning to wet her eyes. She gently cups Casey's face in her hands before she leans in for another passionate kiss that speaks every last one of their emotions. She smiles into the kiss when she feels their tongues meet and begin dueling for dominance against one another. It isn't until the obvious clearing of a throat in the doorway causes the two of them to spring apart, blushing like embarrassed teenagers.

"If you two are done making out like horny little kids," Serena begins with a smug look on her face at having caught the two in the act. "Everyone in the conference room is starting to get a little anxious over Casey's answer."

Casey frowns in confusion and turns back towards her lover once Serena has made her way from the doorway. "What's going on in the conference room?" she asks with genuine curiosity and interest.

"Oh, well, I kinda had this small little get together set up for after I propose to you." Alex responds with a small shrug as she takes the redhead's hand and begins leading her out of the room.

"And pray tell, Miss Cabot; what would you have done with your little get together if I had said no?" Casey questions with a smug grin and a hint of mischief in her eye.

Alex thinks for a moment before she shrugs her shoulders and gives Casey's hand a squeeze. "Well, I suppose then it would have turned into an 'Alex is a loser' party then, huh?" she jokes before giving the hand on her own another squeeze, pulling it's owner towards the conference room.

As they step into the room, there is a unison cheer and applause and Casey finds her self immediately bombarded by coworkers and friends asking her numerous questions, begging to see the ring and to talk about other wedding excitements.

Alex grins as she skillfully slips out of the conversation and over towards her best friend who is lingering by the beverage table near the punchbowl. "You really do know how to kill a mood, don't you?" she asks rhetorically as she gives the shorter blonde a nudge in the ribs.

"Honey, I've always known how to kill a mood and the swag that you don't have." Serena replies snidely, bursting into laughter when she sees the glare that she receives in response to her comment. "Well, I thought it was pretty fun. Congratulations! Judging by the way that you were tonguing each other back there, she said yes?"

"Yeah, she did. For the longest of times she just stood there with this look on her face and for a moment, I thought she was actually gonna say no." Alex chuckles as she runs a hand through her hair, recalling the rather tense moment that just happened not even twenty minutes prior. "My heart is still pounding Serena and I was so nervous. I can't believe she said yes!"

"Well, I'm proud of you honey. Just know that you owe me a special spot in your wedding for being the one to help you set all of this up."

"You're right. I do owe you big time. Now, uh, answer a question for me? What are you doing lingering around the drink table like this."

Serena grins smugly before she glances around and holds up a tiny bottle of clear liquid that is immediately recognized as a small bottle of vodka. "I've got about four more of these in my purse." She says with a small giggle.

A look of disapproval passes over Alex's face as she looks at the bottle of liquor and shakes her head. "Serena, aren't we a bit old to be spiking the punch bowl at a party?" she questions with a curious raise of her eyebrows.

"Psh, are you kidding? I'm not spiking the entire punch bowl. Why would I waste my good liquor on all these people?" Serena asks rhetorically as she takes a cup already filled with the punch and empties the bottle vodka into it. "I'll waste my good liquor on something much funnier than that."

Before Alex can question her best friend's devious motives, Kim approaches the two of them and Alex immediately catches the glint of mischief twinkling in Serena's eyes. Her mouth falls ajar for a moment before she clears her throat and shakes her head. She had no part in this devilish scheme.

"What are you two doing standing over here being all antisocial for?" Kim asks curiously as she eyes her two best friends who both look like the cats that ate the canary. "Am I missing something?"

"Nope!" Serena responds excitedly before she nods to the cup in her hand. "We were just talking about how amazing this punch is. Here, try some."

With much reluctance, Kim takes the cup and immediately stares into the red liquid on the cup. "What is it?" she deadpans, eyeing the cup as if something is about to jump out at her.

"It's punch!" Serena replies with a smile and a hint of a 'duh' tone in her voice.

"Yeah, punch, with a little kick to it." Alex mutters quietly, earning a harsh jab in the ribs from Serena's elbow. "It's good though."

"I meant what's in it…"

"Oh, uh, tell her what's in it Rena."

"Pineapple juice, Hawaiian Punch, sprite, ginger ale, little hint of lemon juice. It's really good, trust us."

Kim continues to eye them suspiciously before she slowly brings the cup to her lips. As she drinks the liquid, she is thoroughly surprised by how good it actually tastes despite it's odd amount of ingredients. "Wow, you're right, that is good. It's a little strong though."

"Must be the ginger ale and the lemon juice." Serena offers with a small nonchalant shrug, her smug grin widening to a satisfied smirk when the brunette walks away. "She'll becoming back for more of it in a little bit."

"Yeah well, you just better be ready to take her home when she's drunk off her ass in the next hour." Alex chides with a small shake of her head. "You know she's a lightweight when it comes to alcohol."

"I know! That's what makes this so great!"

"Do I need to remind you of the legacy dance in high school…?"

"Okay, you gotta admit that was pretty damn funny. Well I mean, you might not think so now since you and Case are kinda getting married, but at the time it was funny! And it's not like I was the one who got her drunk, but damn it sure was funny to witness."

"And what makes you think it is going to be just as funny now that she's in her twenties?"

"Because in her twenties whatever she does will be far more embarrassing. Ooo, maybe she'll do something really stupid like streak naked through Central Park. Can you imagine THAT on the news in the morning?! 'ADA found passed out and nude in the middle of Central Park'. C'mon, it'd be hilarious!"

Alex shakes her head in disapproval once again at her best friend's antics. "I need to tell Liv to keep an eye on you." she says with a shake of her head, her smile widening when she spots her gorgeous fiancée approaching them. "You finally got away?"

"I haven't even been engaged for an hour and people are already asking me where we're going for our honeymoon." Casey says exasperatedly as she allows for Alex to slip an arm around her waist. "I'm not complaining though. It gives me a chance to show off so all of those hussies over there know that you're mine and off limits."

"Getting a little possessive aren't we?" Alex growls lowly before she gently nips Casey's ear, grinning when she feels the woman's pleasurable shiver.

"No, I've been possessive; just not publicly." Casey responds with a grin as she turns and gives Alex a gentle peck on the lips. "I can't wait to get home and ravish you until you can't move."

"Ooo, now I'm excited."

"Okay, gross." Serena chimes in, successfully killing the mood and Alex's so called 'swag'.

Alex narrows her eyes before she rolls them drastically. "Oh whatever, Serena. You know that you and Liv do it too."

Serena nods her head after a moment of thinking. "You're right, we do, but not in front of people that will be scared for life later with those kinds of mental images."

"Well, you're welcome to watch if you wanna see the real thing."

"Alex!" Casey hisses with wide eyes as she begins to blush a color equivalent to her hair before she swats her fiancée on the shoulder.

"I was kidding." Alex grins as she places a kiss to her lover's heated cheek. "You're cute when you blush."

"And you're a perv whenever you're around your friends." Casey mutters in response as she shakes her head in utter disapproval. She huffs once again before she turns her attention towards the cup in Serena's hand. "How is the punch? I haven't tried it yet."

Serena blinks for a moment before she shakes her head and looks at the drink in her hand. "Oh, it's really good actually. But you don't want this cup." She concludes shaking her head. "Trust me."

Casey frowns in confusion and looks to Alex for an explanation who simply shakes her head in respond mouthing something much like 'you don't want to know'. Shrugging, she moves around the two and sets about making her own glass of punch.

"Alright Southerlyn, you've sold me on this drink, gimme another one." Kim demands as she accepts the cup that is eagerly offered to her. "You sure all that's in here is what you told me?"

"Positive," Serena drawls, laughing to her self when she is sure that Kim is out of earshot. "I can't wait. She's definitely going to be tipsy after the second one. I put tequila in that one. Hey Case, maybe you should go grope her in a corner! It'll be just like old times!"

Casey blushes furiously as the two blondes in her presence burst into hysteric laughter. "That's it, I'm walking away. I'm going to go talk to Olivia, who has better things to do than to bring up pointless things that happened in HIGH SCHOOL."

"You're evil, you know that?" Alex says through her laughs as their laughter begins to die down. "Just keep an eye on Kim once you get her smashed. Wouldn't want the two of you to go on any more car bashing sprees, now would I?"

All of the color drains from Serena's face and her smile falls as her voice drops to a serious tone. "How do you know about that." she asks with widen eyes and a flat tone.

"I'm not stupid Serena, I was able to figure it out." Alex replies with a just as serious tone. "What were you two thinking?!"

"Look, I can explain alright?" Serena begins as she drags her hands through her hair, glancing at her best friend across the room before sighing heavily. "She was really hurting Alex and she still might be. I've seen her hurt so much since we were kids, I just got so angry. I mean, you know she's already lost enough, her sister when we were younger, and then her dance aspiration and then she let Abbie get to her and then break her heart, I just couldn't stand it. I sat with her while she cried her heart out for a day and a half. I've never seen her cry so much because she keeps her emotions so guarded. I just couldn't take it Al. I know that we could both get into so much trouble for what happened, but it was my idea. I just want you to know that incase you…"

"I'm not going to rat you out. Granted, by law, I should, but I'm not going to. I suppose that I at least could've been a better friend and been there…" Alex trails off, feeling a little ashamed of her self.

"She still feels like you don't trust her. I know things are better now, but you know how she is." Serena concludes as she shakes her head. "I feel bad for her, you know? I mean, I already have Liv, and you and Case are getting married now. I mean, we all have someone to go home to at night; she's just by her self. It's just like when we were teenagers and she's the odd one out again."

Alex shrugs after a moment of thought and silence. "Maybe it's supposed to be that way…" she says quietly. "Please don't go and do anything stupid like that again. I would hate to have to lie for the both of you."

Serena nods her head before a small smile tugs at her lips. "Thanks Al. You're the best."

"I know I am. I've always been the best. Now, answer another question for me. How bad was it?"

"Oh it was _TOTALED_. Completely un-drivable."

"That's my girls."

**Awww they're getting married! That's so cute! And to address a question that I didn't address in a few chapters back…this story is FAR from over, mwahahaha. Ahem. Leave your thoughts ;) **


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: So…I sort of can't sleep at the moment…that's why this is coming out at the time that it is. Hope you all enjoy it :3**

_ The hard crunching of metal and the harsh shatter of glass leave a piercing ring in her ears. The rain is pouring down hard and cold and she isn't sure if she's shivering because she's cold or in shock. Even the faintness of the street lights seem blurred than usual but she isn't sure if it's because of the monsoon like rain that's pouring down, or if it's because she has hit her somewhere. Maybe it's a mixture of both. She isn't sure. _

_ A wet liquid runs down the side of her face and as she reaches up to graze her cheek, she can see that even in the darkness, it most definitely isn't the water from the rain that's covering her hands. The liquid is warm, sticky, and dark against her pale, trembling fingers. It isn't until then that she becomes painfully aware of the sharp thud in the side of her head. She tries to shift in her seat, but she cries out at the sharp pain in her shoulder upon motion and she immediately deems any kind of movement a bad idea. _

_ Blinking several times, she finally forces her vision to focus and she becomes aware of the shattered windshield before her as well as the glass littering the dashboard and some of it's even in her lap. Groaning, she wills away the pain in her head and her shoulder as she manages to undo her seatbelt, drawing some sort of relief to the searing pain in her body. _

_ "Kenzie, are you hanging in there? Help's gotta be coming soon." She groans as she continues to blink once more trying to will away the dull aching that is beginning to form behind her eyes. She frowns when she realizes she doesn't hear anything but the harsh pitter-patter of the rain and not the response she was looking for. "Kenzie? Are you alright?" _

_ Starting to panic, she grits her teeth as she moves some more and reaches out towards the blonde next to her who is lying limply against the passenger side door. Blood covers the entire left side of her face and her hair is matted from the rain as well as an extensive amount of blood. It isn't until then that she is aware of the condition of the passenger side of the car and she sees the large chunk of metal lodged into the blonde's side. She opens her mouth to scream for help, but nothing escapes her lips as she fins her self seemingly paralyzed and too scared to do anything._

* * *

Casey shoots up in bed with her chest heaving violently and her hair clinging to her seat covered for head. She pants heavily and she raises her fingers to her neck to find her pulse beating rapidly and out of control. Her breathing is ragged and quick and she swallows thickly several times as she tries to get rid of the bile that keeps rising in her throat.

The glowing red numbers on the clock tell her that it has just turned three o clock, and the quiet of the apartment tells her it's three o clock in the morning. She places her hand over her heart and finally feels it trying to slow once again. Sneaking a glance next to her, she cries out in horror when she is met with the image of a blonde lying lifeless in the space next to her, her face and hair covered with blood. The image sends her tumbling over the edge of the bed and careening heavily down onto the floor in a tangled mess of sheets.

Alex is immediately jarred awake by the sound of her lover's scream and she scrambles up in bed, ready to take on whatever the disturbance is. "Casey?!" she asks in panic as she glances next to her and sees the redhead's side of the bed empty. She springs from the bed and makes her way to the other side of the room where she finds the redhead lying on the floor, tangled up in the sheets with her palms digging mercilessly into her eye sockets.

"Baby, what's going on?" Alex asks softly as she gently helps her fiancée back into bed. It isn't until she touches Casey's shoulder that she realizes the extent of the redhead's distress because of her shaking. "Casey, honey, talk to me. You're shaking."

Ever the one determined to be okay, Casey squeezes her eyes shut but snaps them open as the images immediately come flooding back to her. "I'm fine. Really. I just had a nightmare. That's all."

A look of pure sympathy crosses Alex's face as she gently rubs soothing circles on the other woman's back. "Tell me about it?" she pleads quietly, hoping that Casey feels comfortable enough to open up about whatever her nightmare consisted of.

No suck. Casey shakes her head and continues to stare forward into the darkness of the room. "I really don't want to talk about it." she states flatly, using a tone that leaves absolutely no room for discussion. "Please. Let's just go back to bed. I'm sorry that I woke you.

"Casey, I really think that-"

"Alex, please! I just want to go back to bed."

Realizing that she isn't going to get anywhere else, Alex nods her head slowly before she leans in and gently touches her lips to Casey's cheek. "Alright. I'll leave it alone." She whispers as she slowly settles back down underneath the covers. "I love you."

"I love you too." Casey mumbles as she continues to sit up and stare blankly at the wall. She shakes her head before she settles underneath the covers as well, skillfully snaking her arms around her lover, pulling her in close for the night. She places a protective kiss to Alex's head, and judging by the blonde's even breathing, she is already on her way back to sleep. Casey however, remains wide eyed and awake for the rest of the night, unable to fall back asleep what with all of the images floating through her head.

Casey remains that way for the rest of the night until she can see the sun finally beginning to peek across the sky. She glances down at her lover, and she can't help but smile at how angelic and peaceful the blonde looks when she's sleeping. No stress from work being carried on her shoulders or anything else that may be clouding her mind day in and day out.

Carefully extracting her self from Alex, Casey climbs out of bed and quietly makes her way into the bathroom where she brushes her teeth and stares at her self in the mirror. Her crimson colored hair falls limply about her face, and the tiredness in her eyes does nothing for her image in the morning. She chuckles to her self as she realizes that she probably looks like something that came out of 'The Exorcist' or some sort of movie of the like. She feels around the sink before her fingers land on a hair tie that she uses to pull her hair out of her face and into a high ponytail.

As she makes her way out of the bathroom, she smiles to her self when she sees that Alex has now moved to where she is half way stretched across the bed. The sight is rather amusing to see the typically professional and composed attorney sprawled across the mattress like an adolescent. If Casey were feeling adventurous, she would pull out her phone and snap a picture, but she supposes that photo opportunity will have to wait until another time.

Feeling like she has to get out of the house, Casey quietly makes her way across the room and over to the dresser where she begins to stifle through for some clothes. She pulls on a pair of running pants and a running jacket before she makes her way into the closet to slip on some socks and a pair of tennis shoes.

She grabs her phone from the end table and smiles as her eyes fall on her lover once again. She gently places a soft kiss on Alex's cheek, not the least bit surprised when the blonde smiles in her sleep and turns over, grasping a pillow to her chest, seeing comfort in it, due to the absent party in the bed.

Casey slips her phone and her keys into her pocket before she makes her way out of the apartment in desperate need of some fresh air. The air is crisp and cold against her skin, but she is sure that once she starts running, she'll start to warm up. As she exhales, she can see her breath come out as a thick puff of air and she can't help but chuckle at her self at being out in the freezing cold temperatures of the early morning.

Sometimes Casey wonders how she got to where she is. She wonders how the forces of nature work to where the girl that so desperately avoided her every waking moment that she got in high school is now the woman that she plans to marry and spend the rest of her life with. She wonders how the girl that would never spare her a second glance is the girl that she ended up dancing with at senior prom and that same girl is going to be the woman she dances with on their wedding day.

More often than not, Casey finds her self looking at Alex wondering if it's all a dream because sometimes she feels like it isn't real. She looks at Alex and wonders when she's going to wake up and realize that she is just some sixteen year old kid with a bad attitude that no one wants to deal with. She wonders when she is going to wake up and realize that everything is just some fantasy tale playing out in her head and she's back to being that naïve kid struggling to talk to the girl that she knows she's in love with.

As she is jogging through the park, she looks down at the ring on her finger and smiles contently knowing that she is never going to wake up from her dream simply because it's a reality and the mere thought of that sends warm tingles through out her body.

After her jog, Casey makes her way back home, still finding it to be relatively early. Though, she is a little surprised when she walks through the front door into the living room to see Alex tucked into the corner of the sofa, clad in blue silk pajamas, reading what appears to be some kind of thick novel. She smiles when she sees just how focused the blonde seems to be on the book and how cute she looks in those glasses of hers.

"Forgoing the contacts this morning?" Casey jokes lightly as she approaches the back of the couch and places a gentle kiss to the top of Alex's head, finally jarring her from her novel induced stupor.

"Too much of a hassle to put in when you're sleepy." Alex yawns as she rubs her eyes underneath her glasses, the gesture resembling that of a tired child who refuses to take a nap. "Where'd you head off to so early?"

Casey shrugs her shoulders as she plops down onto the couch and skillfully reaches over to slide the blonde's glasses off her face. "I went for a run. Needed to clear my head." She says nonchalantly as she slips the glasses onto her face, frowning when she realizes she can't see a thing. "Hey! I thought glasses were supposed to make you see better! I feel like I'm looking through a telescope!"

Alex narrows her eyes, though whether it's in a glare or simply because she can't see, she isn't entirely sure. She rolls her eyes and shakes her head as she sits back against the arm of the couch. "That's because prescriptions aren't the same for everyone. Everyone's eyesight is different. For example, Serena can count the eyelashes on Lady Liberty, while I literally can't see two inches in front of my face."

"Lady liberty has eyelashes?"

"Exactly…"

Casey thinks for a moment before she grins and holds up her hands. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Alex rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "None if you don't give me my glasses back."

"What if I don't wanna?" Casey whines as she juts out her lower lip in a pout.

"Then I guess I'll have to get them back myself." Alex purrs before she crawls across the sofa and takes the redhead's lips in her. She smirks when Casey moans into the kiss and she carefully slides her glasses off of her fiancée's face, before she ends the kiss and places them back onto her own. "I win."

"You always win, but you only win because you don't play fair."

"That's why I always win."

There is a comfortable silence between the two of them before Alex moves back to her side of the couch and begins twiddling her fingers. "Do you want to talk about what had you up in the middle of the night?" she asks curiously, though her voice and facial expression are still laced with genuine concern.

Casey sighs and thinks for a moment before she closes her eyes and shakes her head. "I really don't want to talk about it, no. Not yet. It was nothing."

"Yeah, nothing that had you leaving the house at the crack of dawn. Why won't you open up to me about it?"

"I'm not…It's not important."

"Casey…"

"It's not!"

Seeing where this conversation is going, Alex holds up her hands before she shakes her head. "Calm down. I don't want to yell. I just wish that you would talk to me about what's going on that you're having nightmares that have you falling out the bed at night."

Casey scowls as her defense mechanisms begin to kick in. "I don't have to tell you everything!" she exclaims much louder than necessary before she shoots off of the couch. "I'm not obligated to share every last one of my personal thoughts with you."

"You're right, you're not. But we _are_ going to be married, so it would be nice." Alex says evenly as she folds her arms, not really wishing to indulge the brewing storm. "We're going to be married to each other Casey and it really would be a lot more settling to know what has got my wife so upset."

"Well then maybe you just shouldn't worry so much. Or maybe you should just listen to me when I say that I'm fine."

"Are you really fine?"

"Yes I'm fine!"

Alex nods her head, accepting defeat for the time being. "Okay then, I won't press the matter any more." She says understandingly as she nods her head. "But if you're ever ready to talk about it, I'll be here to listen. Do you want for me to make us some breakfast?"

Casey shakes her head before she averts her attention elsewhere, slightly ashamed at letting her emotions get the best of her. "No thanks. I think I'm just going to head out again. Maybe I'll pick up something."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No…I want to be alone."

Alex nods in understanding as she picks up her novel again. "Alright then. Be careful."

"I will." Casey replies quietly before she crosses the room and places a quick gentle kiss to the blonde's lips before she leaves the apartment again.

Alex sighs heavily before she drops her head against the back of the sofa upon hearing the door close. She closes her book and begins to nervously bite her thumb nail, wondering just what's bothering her fiancée; and why won't she talk about it?

**Ooo, interesting right? Maybe? A little bit? Leave your feedback! **


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